Picture This
by Angelight
Summary: Usagi, the famous manga artist of Gundam Wing, can't continue her manga. Why? Just when she thinks she has enough problems, a mysterious accident changes her life in more ways than even she is aware of. UsagiHiiro. Complete
1. Prologue: The World Notified

Okay! ^^ This story, to say the least is very very very ... duh ... weird. *nods head* I just had this idea and wrote it down... *shrugs* Have absolutely _no_ idea what to call it... gotta go down my list of titles... 

Editors: You guys are wonderful! ^^ DevilsDarling and UsagiAsiaMaxwell. Apologies to SerenityMoon and AutumnHime for being impatient and not quite waiting for you to reply ... I'm just glad you aren't mad...^^'''

Disclaimer: Don't own it, never did, never will... so quit buggin' me! (By the way, I'm talking about GW and SM ... in case there is some confusion...)

Thoughts: _italicized_

Conscience: **_italicized bold_**

You can vote on the couple I guess... this story can go in any direction...really. 

....................

****

The Tokyo Informer, _Page A-5, Top, Left-hand Corner_:

TOKYO, JAPAN -- Tsukino Usagi, author and artist of manga sensation, _Gundam Wing_, has departed without a trace, leaving fans panicking and speculating. Her most confidential friends and family are refusing to hand out any information whatsoever. 

"She simply needs some time off," says Tomoe Hotaru, one of the countless, successful cousins of Tsukino-san. One can never forget the enthralling ways of actress Aino Minako, or the political successes of Diet Member* Meioh Setsuna, or _The Mercurial Analysis of Euclidean Geometry _courtesy of playwright and professor Mizuno Ami.

The blonde of four feet and eleven inches was born into her breathtaking family in 1983, on the thirtieth day of June. She was raised in Tokyo by parents Tsukino Kenji and Ikuko. This phenomenon began drawing when she was only five and started sending her work to publishers in 1992. When interviewed in September's edition of the celebrated, American magazine Animerica, it was discovered that she had never taken a single art class in her life. Startling? It doesn't stop there.

Tsukino-san was only nine at the time of her first brush against publicity and went under the nom de plume Moon Serenity. She was judged to be nineteen by her publishers. 

Her first manga, _Kimura_ was in print by 1995, and it stunned the public. She briskly published three more mangas at what other artists hail as an _inhuman_ pace. Just recently, in the past year, Tsukino-san launched yet another manga, which she artfully entitled _Gundam Wing_. The first five books raced out at her _inhuman rate_, but at the sixth book the bright-eyed beauty's inspiration began to perceptibly ebb.

Tsuki-san, her private distributor, observed, "Usagi is by and large an astounding artist and fastidious writer, but at the sixth book her illustrations became more artificial, and she postponed many of the events that she had planned." 

At last, after sending the seventh book of her series to Tsuki-san, the now _truly _girl of nineteen vanished without a whiff or inkling of where she might be. Where could Japan's current, most anticipated artist be hiding? This reporter doesn't know _what_ to think.

- Hino Rei

November 19, 2001

Usagi hurled the paper down fiercely and smashed her coffee cup onto it, taking no notice the protesting crack. So this is what the outside world thinks of her? They think she's some sort of trophy to be flaunted and ogled at -- something for scientists to probe. 

But she had expected this. This was the risk she took by, plainly put, disappearing from the face of the Earth. Inhaling slowly, she began massaging her temples, striving to dispose of the headache that had just recently misted her concentration. It only seemed to get worse. She soon yielded to it and sat down in her chair again. _The outside world must think I'm senseless_... she mused with a derisive grin. 

Her hand reached for the revitalizing coffee but failed. She let it slump and with a twitch realized that it had alighted on the published copies of her most recent manga. 

Gingerly picking the stack of seven books up, she began reading from the very first page of the very first book. Not five seconds later, she slammed the book down with a frustrated lament. No, this was not the time to be submerging in self-pity. Heaving a sigh, she stood up, snatched a coat off of the back of a chair, and settled on taking a jog. 

She sprinted, swiftly as she could, along the coast. _What's wrong with me? Why can't I just wrap up the darn manga? _All truth be told, this one is beginning to greatly drain both her morale and already frazzled nerves.

An insignificant voice pestered, **_Because you're in love with one of your own characters, darling Usagi, the child genius, the creative quintessence, the- _**Usagi batted the voice away irritably, refraining from acting out her previous objective -- to throttle it. 

_I'm not crazy ... and I'm absolutely positively **not** in love with one of my own characters! _she sniped as parting to the unidentified voice.

**_So why aren't you able to make him fall in love with that girl in your manga? _**the voice called back effortlessly, used to being disregarded and recovering so promptly that at first, the mindlessly running girl was rendered speechless. 

Usagi shook her head, firmly, stumbling, sacrificing her balance. Urging her body to go more quickly, she ran until she could think no more ... but not without a smug farewell to the voice -- _Ha!_

....................

See! I told ya it was weird! Tokyo Informer? How original am I? But that sounds better than The Tokyo Courier does ... in my not so humble opinion?

Votes, constructive criticism, brief greetings all welcome!


	2. Grounded for Life

Hmmm hmm hmmm *hums Christmas carols* ^^ Here's the (_short_) next chapter! 

Disclaimer: Ack! I'm forgetting to do these again! What's wrong with me?! But you all know that I don't own GW or SM, right? ...right? Guys? **_ANSWER ME!!!_**

Editors: This time I _really_ needed the editing, ne? Thanks to DevilsDarling, AutumnHime, and UsagiAsiaMaxwell, this chapter is actually understandable! Apologies for my constant griping though...^^'''

....................

Usagi entered her summer beachhouse mutely. Only her most securely drawn circle of relatives and associates knew about this place as it had just lately been built. As an early Christmas present from Minako.

Hanging her coat up unenthusiastically, she made her way to the shower. Night saluted the girl when she departed the bathroom. Lighting her lamp, she endeavored to pick up the pencil and work more on her manga, and found that the incessant hustle and bustle of her assistants that she had found so grating was now missed. So instead, she turned her interest to the chaotic ocean thundering outside her window. 

The chair groaned as she leaned back in it and deeply drew in the salt-touched air that had filtered through her room. She enjoyed it. The potent perfume of salt and the echo of the forceful waves gave her a giddy sensation of rare freedom. It was almost as if her fondest wish of flying was within her hands. Ever since she a child she had wanted to fly -- away from her life to a place where she could overlook deadlines and whether or not the eyes of her characters were too far apart. To sprout wings and take to the sky...**[1]**

A burning flash of light seared her eyes. When had she fallen asleep? Growling audibly, she began to turn, only to find that there wasn't sufficient space to do so. That bit of information was gathered by falling down, awkwardly, onto the fresh-smelling pine of her floor. 

Propping herself up with wobbly arms, her opaque blue eyes were received by two sharp emerald ones. Cat's eyes. Shaking her head while letting the tiniest of sniggers escape, she rose and hailed her cat, Artemis. 

Intuiting his owner's misery, the furry feline instantly became a motor, purring as loudly as he could. This time Usagi giggled out loud and picked him up along with some mangas that she had treasured as a toddler. Namely, _Bishoujo Senshi Seramuun_. To have love, friendship, and freedom like the heroine of the story... 

"You know, you can't live like this forever, Usa," a male voice scolded.

Awakening from her fleeting flashback of when she had first read the manga, Usagi didn't bother to glance up after an abrupt spasm of alarm.

"Warn me next time you decide to speak, Art," she said through gritted teeth, clenching her hands at her sides to inhibit herself from skinning the cat. 

The cat gave a wan smile and shrugged, flicking his tail flippantly. Usagi sighed once more.

"Don't sigh so much! We don't want you to get depression now do we?" the white cat argued with a laughable expression, mouth bent in a squiggly line and eyes widening.

Usagi reacted with a half snort, half cackle. "It might be too late."

The cat yawned widely, flaunting pointed teeth and blandly remarked, "Being our typical pessimistic self, ne?"

"Being our usual criticizing self!" she defied crossly.

"I'm not criticizing!"

"I'm not pessimistic!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" 

The blonde's face contorted as she sought to muffle her mirth but to no avail. It was rare that she could laugh at all and those moments of pure glee were commonly after a mock squabble between herself and Artemis. You think she is crazy? Maybe she is ... after all, she's arguing with a _cat_. (and a moronic one at that...)

………………..

*beep* "Tsukino Usagi, come home immediately, young lady! Not only have you been wallowing in your self-pity for a month for no apparent reason, but it's _Christmas_! You'd better be doing something cheerful! If you're not acting like a nineteen-year-old right now, I'll ground you for a month! A year! Now come home before I have to march down to that place of yours and haul you here--by the ear! I'm expecting you by dinnertime on Christmas Eve or you're grounded! Don't roll your eyes, young lady! And don't deny it, I know you are!" the shrill voice hesitated and sighed before resuming. "Just please co-"

True to her grandmother's demand, Usagi was rolling her eyes. Seething, she jabbed at the stop button on the answering machine. You'd think her grandmother would know by now that it was utterly useless to lecture and threaten her on being depressed. 

But in actuality, she got the picture. After all, her grandmother had a reason for getting her to go to the Christmas party, and his name was Mamoru. 

Chiba Mamoru. Grandson of one of her grandmother's poker-playing, matchmaking, meddling friends. Usagi rolled her eyes again as she disregarded the prompt reprimand given to her by her conscience for regaining_ that _habit. 

What would an entrepreneur know about drawing or even art in general? How would he grasp the desire to draw? But that wasn't the problem. No matter what, she had to go, or else ... or else her grandmother would execute her threat of strutting over here and yanking her back by the ear. She was very _healthy_ in spite of her age...

Shooing Artemis off her lap, the petite blonde got up to peek at her calendar. Realizing she was a month behind, she flipped the page and made a face at the joyful picture of a family sitting down to Christmas dinner. 

Averting her eyes from the (gruesome) scene, she scanned the page. If her answering machine had been set properly, it would be ... December twenty-third today. That gave her roughly sixteen hours to shop for gifts, two hours to pack, and four hours to fly to Tokyo ... leaving one hour for the drive to her house and another one just in case, she figured rapidly. Ami didn't get all the mathematics genes in the family.

Now, for the shopping...

....................

Entering the house for the second time that day, she checked her messages again to find another call from her grandmother, reminding her of the current time and when dinner commenced. She just about slammed her fist onto the machine. 

This bunny was, clearly, _not_ happy. Who would be after twenty-six hours of not sleeping? Even if the majority of it was spent shopping.

Pitching the packages over to the carpeted hall that led to the two bedrooms, she mentally promised herself that she would pack later as she laid down onto her couch and instantly fell asleep.

………………..

"Wake up Usagi ... _wake up_!" No response. Artemis glared at the serenely sleeping girl and then summoned up an old trick. "Usagi? _Breakfast_!"

The adolescent sprang from the light-hued couch and blinked around bemusedly, mouth already watering. Her eyes finally settled on the smug face of Artemis. Funny how a cat could look smug. 

Before she had the chance to strangle him, he looked pointedly at her alarm clock. 2:11 p.m. Usagi gave a short gasp before jerking to her feet, fully awake, and began sweeping about the room, packing. 

Executing the cat will have to wait. 

After an all too brief hour, Usagi stood panting but victorious as she lugged her two bags out to the cab Artemis had managed to phone. The cat's latest trick and consideration was rewarded by being stuffed into her traveling bag. 

"Now, no meowing," Usagi cautioned.

The usually amicable cat retorted with a hiss.

"Would you rather ride with the baggage?"

At this time she stopped snapping at the still shifting cat due to the driver's concerned glances, undoubtedly from seeing a nice girl like herself composing a spirited banter with her bag. But the point had been expressed, and she felt Artemis settling down. Giving the driver a sweet smile, she ducked into the car, leaving the bags to him.

………………..

Usagi jogged through the airport, clutching her pre-ordered tickets ... under another name of course. Putting sunglasses on while half walking, half running to her gate, she once again calculated the amount of time she had left. 

Assuming that the flight would take four hours, give or take thirty minutes, she realized that she only had half an hour to get to her house. 

The gate number loomed up above her as she paused to compose herself and straighten her coat collar. Briefly reaching up to her face and checking that the sunglasses were there, she boarded her plane, scarcely making it as the gate banged shut after the air attendant tossed her an irritated look. 

The numbers of other people hastening home for Christmas gazed at her with inquisitive eyes. Who would be sporting sunglasses on such a smoggy day?

Ignoring them, the girl reached her seat and sat down with a drawn-out sigh that would absolutely exasperate Artemis had he been allowed to comment. She then promptly sank into dreamland...

………………..

"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be serving a snack in approximately five minutes. Thank you." 

Usagi stirred at the voice of the attendant and sat up drowsily. The dark-haired, midnight-eyed man sitting beside her smiled at her kindly.

"So you're finally up."

Blinking sleep from her eyes, she nodded timidly and then granted him a friendly smile.

"Why are you traveling to Tokyo?"

"Family gathering." Then blushing, she realized her lack of manners and promptly introduced herself, "My name is-er-Serena Kyler."

Nodding at her in greeting, he countered with, "Darien Shields."

She mirrored his nod and shook her head at the offered airplane peanuts from the flight attendant. She had the fortune to suffer from nausea while on airplanes. And peanuts at the moment might as well be the spawn of the devil. 

"Why are _you_ going to Tokyo?" she finally broke the silence, reciprocating his prior question.

"Same. And if I'm lucky I might be able to get some work done there too."

………………..

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are nearing Tokyo and will land in approximately fifteen minutes. It is presently snowing, and the temperature is approaching twelve degrees Fahrenheit or negative nine degrees Celsius. The current time is 6:03 p.m. Thank you for flying with us and happy holidays" **[2]**

Then all was heard was the clicking of seat belts, scattered murmurs, and the muted whines of several infants.

………………..

The plane landed without too much of a bump, and Usagi sat still as ordered until it slowed to a complete stop. She smiled and shook her head as Darien handed her her bags and then offered to carry them for her. 

"Well then, goodbye and happy holidays."

"Maybe we'll meet again. Tokyo isn't _that_ big of a city."

Giving her a boyish grin, he retorted, "Maybe we will."

Nodding farewell, she departed with a mumbled, "Merry Christmas."

Usagi breezed through the airport, trying her best to ignore that rosy faces and wide smiles of people who were waiting for their loved ones to arrive for Christmas. Pushing her way through an especially large throng of people, she hastily hailed a cab.

"2349 Amethyst Lane. I'll pay triple if you get there in less than half an hour."

The driver, thrilled at the idea of additional cash, drove speedily and almost hazardously. She caught a glimpse of her watch in the light of a passing streetlamp. 5:57. _Damn._

The preoccupied adolescent was, without a warning, thrown against the door of the cab and banged her head on the frame of the car. Yelling at the frenzied driver, she realized that they were in the wrong lane. 

This was followed by a collision, and a cascade of shattered glass. She gawked at the shining splinters, stupefied, before hurriedly squeezing her eyes shut to shield them from the jagged edges. There was another jolt, and she banged her head again. 

"I'm going to be grounded for life..." she whimpered, and then there was oblivion.

………………..

Gack! It's so repetitive! With all those she's and Usagi's and stuff like that! Grrr... Yes, yes, yes, and also totally _used_ ending! 

What was I going to say? Oh yeah! I've taken up reading fics again and realized how bad mine are! ^^ Yay for me?

You will have quite a while to vote for couples. I'm really dragging this out ... because it's interesting seeing people panic ... *cackle* Evil, evil me...

Notes:

1. This paragraph belongs wholly to AutumnHime. 

2. The temperature fits the equation. ^^


	3. Anxiety and the Cat

*hums* listening to Eternal Wind. It's so pretty! ^^ And it's raining outside so the mood fits the song so perfectly! 

Disclaimer: I don't own it ... nope! Boy ... aren't you surprised?

Editors! Happy Holidays! AutumnHime, DevilsDarling, and UsagiAsiaMaxwell. One of my editors is on vacation! *sniff*

I've managed to tally up the votes, and Hiiro's winning by _a lot_! Hmmm ... maybe just to get on people's nerves I won't do him? Haha ... that would be funny ... ^_~

**Hiiro** - 10.5 (Well aren't we just Mr. Popular? *phht* ...but I still adore him! ^^''')

**Duo** - 2 (But Duo-chan's so _cute!_ How can anybody not like him? He's flirtatious and funny and actually _speaks!_ Are all you Duo-lovers out there going to stand for this?! Are you going to let hardly-speaks-more-words-than-the-average-cat Hiiro beat you?! **_ARE YOU_**?! I wouldn't ... sudden Duo obsession? Emotions run haywire? Watch out because the braided baka is climbing up the charts in my mind ... and my votes count a whole lot more, ne? ^^)

**Quatre **- 0 (Poor Quatre! Don't you feel sorry for the cute widdle blonde? You're all cruel, I tell ya! Evil,evil, evil people!) 

**Trowa** - 1 (Silent Trowa, always the support that the team needs in times of despair! You're breaking up the team, evil people!)

**Wufei** - 2.5 (Poor Fei-chan! Stuck with two and a _half_ of a vote! _No!_ Not two! _No!_ Not three! But _two and a half! _How can you people? This is the last time I'm listening to votes ... I think. ^^''')

**_Not_ Mamoru **- 3 (But Mamoru is _nice! _You all like Naoko Takeuchi, right? She thought Mamoru was nice! And she is like a deity in the SM world! You're going against her! Blasphemy!)

Heehee. I counted votes 0.5 when they said something like "I want Hiiro most, but Duo is also okay" so Duo gets 0.5 a vote! 

…………………

Usagi managed to stay within the boundaries of consciousness. Her misty mind registered voices -- foreign ones -- though she couldn't discern of which gender or how many people there were.

"What's _she_ doing here?" one of the voices choked out, with apparent bewilderment and alarm.

"We should dispose of her," a second voice advised quietly, sidestepping the first's question. Even in her baffled state, Usagi observed that the second voice sounded harsher and less used than the first.

"No, she could be a innocent bystander. We should take her in," yet another voice joined the dispute.

"I agree." This voice sounded unerringly like the second. Her disorientated mind brooded over this for a second before a "fourth" voice sliced in. **[1] **

"Guards coming. Hurry up and decide whether or not we should keep the onna."

She let a groan flee her mouth and reached up to touch her head. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the voices' attentions spiraling to her, restlessly waiting for her to wake up. This was not to be as the impulsive movement and exertion of energy caused her to traverse to utter nothingness.

…………………

"Where is that girl? Does she want me to tow her over here and humiliate her in front of her potential husband?" the aged lady, Tsukino Yukari, huffed sulkily. At this comment, said 'future husband' blushed. 

Shingo eyed his grandmother sympathetically. It was clear she was troubled even though she sought to screen it with her snippy tone.

"She should be here soon..." The fretful mother of Usagi glanced once again at her watch -- 6:39.

"Why can't Usagi just get a move on? She's holding up the party! Besides, we're _famished_," a blonde relation of Usagi whined. The other teens at the table nodded in conformity.

Casting them a dark look, Shingo entered the discussion. "We should check on her, not sit here like ducks and wait for her to call."

"Yeah, she never calls anyway," the blonde scowled scathingly as payback for the dark look.

"Usagi will call, if she can," a fair, dark-haired and bright-eyed girl spoke up. Her eyes held resolve as she stared defiantly at her older sister. 

"You're too young to judge people, Taru-chan." The golden-haired girl scanned the rest of the adolescents at the table as if asking for encouragement.

"Usagi will call," the girl sitting beside her chirped confidently. The blonde turned to her and sneered.

"What would you know about Usagi, Mina-chan? You're away three hundred and sixty-four days a year with that acting job of yours!"

"I know her better than you think," the red-bowed actress sniffed disdainfully, optimistic mood dampened.

Tired of the squabbling, Yukari spoke up, "Kenji..."

"Well what do you want me to do? We can't call the police yet, " Kenji bit out, his temper escalating with his dread as the cousins continued to bicker in the backdrop.

"Relax. Let's just wait some more," Mamoru suggested with his natural, placid air. 

The elderly woman gave him an indulgent look as she nodded in agreement. 

Ikuko sighed and endeavored to mollify the hungry and still glowering teens by suggesting, "Why don't we start eating?"

…………………

Outside the snow fell tenderly, unmindful to the family's unease. A stranger lurched onto the lawn, ruining the flawless snow with his heavy steps. He reached out unsteadily to tap on the door but faltered. Trying again, he managed a muffled knock, which no one heard. He tried one last time and knocked with all his might before crumpling from lack of energy. 

The door unfasten and light and warmth spattered out. The person who opened it gave a sharp gasp before calling for help and then attempting to revive the man. She turned him over, face up, and laid him on the floor. 

Only then did she detect his clenched fist and reach for it. Even though unconscious, the man held on to this item with a steel grip. Ikuko let it go and again hollered for help. The man was then laid onto the sofa and kept an eye on. The item in his hand was soon forgotten.

…………………

The Tsukino family experienced a restless night. Ikuko and Yukari bustled in and out, trying to make the nameless man comfortable but more importantly trying to not think about Usagi. Once the man was as snug as they could get him, Yukari settled down while Ikuko paced. 

"That girl!" the silver-haired woman sighed, almost exasperated.

"Maybe she's just really late. I mean, anything can happen..." Ikuko launched her cheery speech brightly but her voice diminished. The optimism in her tone was strained as she battled to keep the family's hopes up. She was fighting a loosing battle.

"I'll go call the police," Kenji mumbled awkwardly. Eyes turned to regard him.

Ikuko twisted around to face him, eyes beseeching, imploring for him to not put the family through reality. "Dear, let's just wait a bit more."

"We can't deny it anymore! There is something wrong! You have to face it -- it's the way life is! " And with that, he stormed off to the phone.

"Maybe she didn't want to come home because I'm here?" Mamoru submitted, his appearance earnest.

Too drained to console, Ikuko sighed and looked away.

…………………

"Ikuko ... honey..."

She looked up with distressed eyes, blinking away a sleeping spell. "Kenji...?"

"There was a car crash this evening," he turned his gaze from her traumatized features and aimed them at the floor.

"A-and?" Yukari stammered, her face as ashen as death.

"After the driver came to, he said he had picked up a girl at the airport who fits Usagi's description."

"But it doesn't have to be Usagi right? There's lots of people who fit Usagi's description!" Ikuko had now risen and started tugging at her husband's sleeve, pleading for him to reveal to her that everything was all right. 

Kenji reacted by hugging her closely, not trusting himself to lie.

"There's more."

Four pairs of eyes flashed to the fresh voice. The man who they had taken in had awoken. Ikuko hurried to him and struggled to get him to lie back down, but he rejected her attempts.

"I was sent here, by the police, to tell you."

"H-how?"

And at that time, he exposed the item in his hand -- a driver's license -- Usagi's, specifically.

Endeavoring to soothe his quivering wife, Kenji spoke, "So what more is there?"

Looking into the older man's eyes with incisive, cat-like, emerald ones, the man explained, "The girl vanished after the collision. We can't locate her."

"Can't locate -- so that means she could still be alive, right?"

"The chances aren't in your favor. But there's nothing to do but wait."

"For a miracle?" Shingo guessed dimly.

"What's your name, young man?"

"Furuhata Motoki."

Mamoru looked at the guy intently. He was lying; he could tell, used to making business deals. The signs were all there -- too relaxed under such a horrific circumstances and the eyes weren't looking unswervingly at the person he was conversing with. 

So who is this guy? If he were trying to flee from somebody, it wouldn't be easy. After all, not many had surprisingly silver hair and razor-edged jade eyes...

"Hey Mister, that's a pretty necklace!" the youngest of all in the category labeled "Usagi's cousins" piped up, oblivious to the disquiet and tension saturating the ambiance.

"Motoki" looked up, startled, and reached to bring it up to his eyes. It sparkled silver in the pooling lamplight and the word emblazoned upon it glared sapphire -- Artemis.

…………………

Okay! Who _knew_ I was going to do that? I'd like to have a show of hands! *crickets chirp* I'd like to have an audience. -_-

Ack! The whole family table talking thing was messed up! Okay, so the cousins are there... where are the aunts and uncles?!

Notes:

1. She thinks the second and fourth voices were from the same person but is confused because they contradict each other. ^^


	4. Facts Unearthed

Hallo. As always, short. But look on the bright side! It's longer than usual. ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, and the Usagi in this story doesn't either.

…………………

"She's still not up, Hiiro?" The restless pilot of Deathscythe poked his head into the room where the unfamiliar girl presently rested.

"Iie."

"Does it _look_ like she's awake, Maxwell?" Wufei shot back irritably from trivial lack of sleep. He turned back to the girl who had deceptively tumbled from the sky -- even Hiiro's computer, heck, even Dr. J's new-fangled machines couldn't fathom exactly from _where_. 

The second she had materialized, he had felt drawn to her and had even gone as far as to interrogate the others. All concurred and puzzled over this. There was the noticeable fact that she was stunning, but that would only account for Maxwell's fascination with her, not Trowa's, Hiiro's, Quatre's, or his.

For a moment, uncertainty twisted his face but that was hurriedly masked by the muttered comment, "It's only natural that such a person of the weaker sex should take so long to recover from a simple fall. Weak onna."

"Idiot pig," the now-awake girl on the bed snapped in what was meant to be a biting tone. Instead, it sounded half-sleepy and half-affectionate. She tried to fortify the intended meaning by chucking a glare in his general direction but even that was softened by the 'early morning' fuzzy hair. What resulted was a rather entertaining effect.

Usagi blinked and rubbed her eyes and then blinked again. Was it just her or do these people look like ... no, important questions first.

"Is there something to eat? Being in a coma for a day-"

"A week," Quatre corrected.

"-a week, doesn't exactly satisfy a person's stomach," she finished undauntedly, beaming at the five boys gaping at her.

"You wake up and the first question you ask is what's for lunch?" Wufei asked incredulously.

"Well-"

"Hmmm ... I'm kinda hungry too … let's eat!" Duo interrupted while rubbing his stomach wistfully. Quatre smiled genially and stepped out of the room. The hunt for the kitchen began.

…………………

Five minutes later, everybody was assembled in the southeast wing, kitchen number three's central, right table. Usagi had already braked her initial speed of eating, but the food was still entering her mouth at the speed of a small jet. At this rate, all the food on the table would be digested in a matter of seconds but then again, what are Maguanacs for?

"I'm getting motion sickness just watching her," Duo remarked, turning a light shade of lime green.

"Now you know how we feel whenever you come over and eat."

Even as they were speaking, the food's miles per hour was slowing down to the speed of an automobile, a racehorse, a bicycle, a person, and finally, normal speed.

"So, um, where am I?" the now satiated girl asked between refined bites of a buttered roll.

"Quatre's mansion," Trowa supplied concisely, gesturing at the blonde-haired angel labeled Quatre. This earned him a murderous glance and a harsh poke for disclosing valuable information.

"Q-Quatre?" she stammered, roll falling from her hand to the now sparkling plate. "A-and Maxwell?"

"Yeah, this is Yui Hiiro, Duo Maxwell, Chang Wufei, Trowa Barton, and myself, Quatre Raberba Winner." A look of murder was shot in his direction as well for so liberally giving out their names.

Chuckling nervously, she testily questioned, "Are you all really into _Gundam Wing_ or something?"

At the mentioning of the word _gundam_, Hiiro's long-waited-for opportunity to pull out his gun presented itself. The four others stiffened severely.

"What do you know about gundams?" 

By now she had caught her mistake. If her theory was correct ... nah. Couldn't be! But she would have to be more guarded, knowing Hiiro's personality. She kicked herself under the table before grinning like a madwoman.

"Well, I know they're made out of this unique kind of metal and that there's supposedly five of them. And I know that nobody knows who the pilots are." She applauded herself for the comeback...

"So why did you ask if we were into _Gundam Wing_ or not?"

...a little too soon.

"Er ... you know what? I'm _really _tired, maybe we could discuss this later?"

Hiiro and Wufei both immediately opened their mouths to decline, but Quatre jumped in and said kindly, "Sure, we'll talk about it later."

…………………

Slitted eyes followed her every movement until finally, she walked out the kitchen. Who was this girl? Well, nothing a laptop couldn't find out. Muttering a _hn_, to Duo's _Where're you going, Hii-chan?,_ he departed the room swiftly.

Tapping on the arm of his chair, he waited for the laptop to start. Until ... he stopped in mid-tap and almost banged his head against the table. He didn't even know her name! Shaking his head and grumbling about braided bakas affecting the memory, he leaned back. There was something outlandish about this girl ... something that gave him the impression that not only did she know more than she should, she knows more than anybody short of being a goddess should. 

…………………

He concentrated on breathing in and out, slowly and delicately, making it an art form. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out. A certain blonde's sheepish face hopped into his thoughts. What attracted him to her? Something ... and that something isn't your everyday boy likes girl something. His mind instinctively rebelled against the perplexing thoughts and goaded them out of his mind. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

………………….

Though Hiiro and Wufei had both been more than a little impolite, he wasn't about to follow their example. Throughout the whole conversation, he had survived with not pointing out her oddities. After all, if he wasn't going to make her feel at ease, who is? However, there could be a point made against him -- she could be an opponent, however unlikely it seems to him...

…………………

Hiiro and Wufei are both _way_ too serious for their own good, in his belief at least. So what if she's an enemy? She's dazzlingly beautiful and those enemies are the best. 

But really, that's not his key argument -- he's a lot more sensible than that. In his mind, he just knows that she isn't the enemy. No questions asked -- just _knows_. What more is there to discuss?

…………………

She's the enemy or not, that's the focal question. The others are too engaged in wondering what they, as a whole, would do once they worked out whether or not she was the enemy so he's unintentionally assigned the job of finding the answer to the initial question. 

He tried to push any emotion or feeling towards her away and focus on the facts. They all pointed out the obvious -- she had something to withhold. And if she were an ordinary bystander, why would she have something to hide?

…………………

What was this, a dream? She pinched herself on the arm but still did not wake up. 

Here she was, in her own manga, conversing with her own characters, including … _him_. 

There was the very appealing choice of staying here forever and living in this world, but what about her friends ... family ... Artemis...? Do they all think she's dead right now? 

Her vision smudged as tears hurtled to her eyes. She couldn't do that. She could never leave them like that, letting them wonder whether she was alive or not and where she was. She couldn't -- no matter how much she loved him. Besides, as real as he is to her, he isn't. It's ridiculous to live in a daydream, and as relentlessly as she tries, she could never make it reality. 

…………………

Ikuko Tsukino stirred and immediately felt something amiss. She threw an arm out to her left and felt Kenji's sleeping form. She ran upstairs and checked on all of Usagi's cousins and found that they were all out of harm's way. It wasn't until her eyes fell upon the sleeping "Motoki" did all of the proceeding night's events come to her. Her legs quivered and then gave out as she fell in a sobbing heap. _Usagi..._

…………………

"Must you analyze everything so _much_?! Heck, she could just be a normal person."

"I suspect she isn't."

"Do you ever _not_ suspect something?"

Hiiro glowered but then shook his head. He felt sorry for any guy who had gotten to know Duo in their lives. 

"It is best to keep all options open until they can be proven wrong," Trowa cautioned, looking meaningfully at Duo with an intense green eye.

Duo hmphed and turned away, braid swinging with irritation.

The doorknob turned slowly and opened to expose...

"Ohayo!"

...Usagi.

"It's afternoon," Wufei pointed out crossly.

"Oh," she stopped abruptly and frowned but then promptly chirped, "So, what are you guys talking about?"

There was an awkward silence before Duo answered, "Babes." Well, he wasn't _completely_ lying. After all, they were talking about her, and she was a babe, he reassured himself.

"Babes?" Usagi queried, eyebrows raised.

Wufei choked and started turning muave, Quatre tugged at his shirt collar uneasily, Trowa turned away to hide a smile, and Hiiro pondered what time would be the best time to slaughter Duo. The Deathscythe pilot was, however, smiling at her with an innocent and (hopefully) laid-back smile.

"Yeah, we were talking about babes, but before that we were talking about fashion. Don't you think green looks wonderful on Hiiro? And how about red and Wufei? A dress here and there would improve the atmosphere greatly."

"Really..." she responded and promptly walked back out of the room without another word, several shades paler.

Silence reigned for the briefest of moments before, "**_MAXWELL_**!" 

…………………

"I went through her purse."

"You did _what_?!"

"I went through her purse."

"_You went through her purse_?!"

"Yes, can you not hear?! I went through her purse!" Wufei reached over and tugged on Duo's ear. 

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, Wu-man! Let go!"

The Asian pilot ignored him and continued yanking him down the hall to where the other pilots were currently gathered.

"I went through her purse."

"You _what_?!" Quatre stood up, looking mortified.

"I went through her purse."

"_You went through her purse_?!"

Wufei turned scarlet with irritation and stomped out of the room, ranting about bad hearing. "Her name's Tsukino Usagi," he grumbled over his shoulder.

…………………

Hiiro typed _Usagi Tsukino_ into the computer with the other pilots, minus Wufei, looking over his shoulder. The computer screen flashed and then _... searching ... searching ... searching ... returned: nine matches. _

"Nine?" Duo exclaimed in dismay.

"Miss Tsuki Usa of Norway, Miss Bunny Moon of Chicago, Miss Serenity Moon of the North Pole, Mr. Tyler Tsuki of Dallas, Miss Serena Tsukino of Denmark, Mrs. Luna Usagi of Victoria, Mrs. Usagi Carlisle of Sydney, Neo Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, and Miss Usagi Asia of Candyland Lane," Quatre read aloud.

"Let's go in order, shall we?" Duo muttered tiredly.

Taking a deep breath, he began firing out words, "**Miss Tsuki Usa**, age five, not it. 

"**Miss Bunny Moon**, age twenty-three, taxi driver, 6'0", not it. 

"**Miss Serenity Moon**, age unknown, editor for the Santa Times, height unknown, currently living happily with her two pet reindeer, not it. 

"**Mr. Tyler Tsuki**, not it. 

"**Miss Serena Tsukino **of Denmark, age fifteen, currently under guard at the local juvenile detention hall, not it. 

"**Mrs. Luna Usagi**, age twenty-four, homemaker, 5'9", not it. 

"**Mrs. Usagi Carlisle**, age twenty-two, kangaroo tamer, 4'9", currently in hospital after trying to rescue a koala, not it. 

"**Neo Princess Serenity**, age nine hundred and ninety-seven, famed princess of folklore, 3'7", not it. 

"**Miss Usagi Asia **of Candyland Lane, age unknown, enchantress, 4'11", currently engaged to the Muffin Man, has obsession with cows, unusual hair-do, blue eyes and dark blonde hair, has been counseled for schizophrenia, is currently in Antarctica playing with the penguins, not it. 

"She's not here," Duo pointed out the obvious.

"There's one more result on the next page," Trowa pointed at the bottom of the screen where a link that wasn't previously there appeared. 

"Miss Tsukino Usagi of Guatemala, age eighteen, height 4'11", competent finance consultant and part time ... assassin..." Duo trailed off but continued again. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, location unknown, reward of 500,000 pounds will be given to the captor of her, active member of the search for gundam pilots, and has, to date, murdered over twenty-one victims," he finished apprehensively.

"Well, maybe it's not her. After all, Guatemala?" Quatre reassured shakily.

"We have to follow the facts."

Trowa shook his head and glanced at the computer screen again, "I agree with Hiiro. The facts are right before us; there's no way to deny it."

"Go get Wufei," Hiiro ordered. 

…………………

She entered her room, stunned, to find all the contents of her purse spilled over the floor. Gasping, she checked to make sure everything was there -- her photos of her family, cash, ID ... ID! So that's what they were looking for. 

She studied it: Usagi Tsukino. They won't be able to find her under that name. Impossible. The door creaked open, and she turned around, almost in fear, but it was too late. A hand covered her mouth before she could scream.

…………………

I hate this chapter … hate it. *bleah* Oh well, you have to live with it, not me. ^^''' 


	5. Chains and Cells

Depressed, so depressed ... and all this over some anime character ... but don't worry, I wrote this when I wasn't depressed...^^''' 

Ne, here I am mourning for Soujiro that I could hardly memorize my Christmas speech! Yeah yeah, I'm five months early but so what? *sniffle* I miss him...*sniffle* I'm slightly annoyed at the creator of Kenshin ... why couldn't you be able to relate better to Soujiro?! _Why_?!

Additional obsession: Escaflowne ... it's so depressing ... in a happy, fluffy, bloody kinda way. ^^

Disclaimer: I'm hyperventilating so would you really trust me if I told you I didn't own GW, SM, or the mentioning of RK in my ANs? Jeez ... we FF authors are so lazy ... so many abbreviations...-_-

Editors: *sigh* Though you didn't conjure up any more scenes of Soujiro or Escaflowne, you did do an amazing job with what garbage I gave you for this chapter ... Heh ... but still, if you could conjure up scenes.... or the person himself... heh heh ... I'd love you indefinitely!!! (Is that a good thing?)

**Thank you to:** Chibi Chibi GW for that one nonchalant line that banished writer's block. Your line now makes mothers weep everywhere, hating me for exposing their children to this horror below but ... _I'll_ love you always. ^^

I won't tell you what the line was (but it's not like you can't get access to it anyhow...) because that might spoil a part of it ... and though not everything revolves around that one idea, everything _did _sprout from it. ^^ You can email Chibi Chibi GW at WaterKitten3000@netscape.net to thank her ... for allowing me to actually write ... even if it took a long time anyway…

…………………

Deftly twisting free, she twisted to glare at her captor to find ... Duo. The rage left her so swiftly that all she was left with was a vacant feeling highlighted with terror of what might come to take place.

"W-what do you want?" she questioned covertly even though they were right smack in the middle of a hall with sparkling rays of sunlight flinging them into the spotlight.

"Hey! I'm here to save your butt and this is how you treat me?!" he snapped in a hurt tone distorted by anxiety and sniffed arrogantly.

"Save my butt? Why would my butt need saving?" she queried, frowning gently. The previous irritation was shoved aside by thick perplexity.

Duo exhaled noisily and did his best to look exasperated. "Hello! Are you blind or are you blind?"

"I'd have to say I am blind. Enlighten me," she shot back, eyes splinters of sarcastic indigo.

Realizing he made the ultimate mistake for this day and now would have to make up a story in place of 'Hiiro's hacking abilities led us to your profile which ... isn't entirely spotless', he shuffled around in his thoughts for an excuse.

"Uh, bwawijihuahieha," the braided boy garbled unintelligibly before at last coming up with something, if not something credible. "Wufei's cooking tonight and trust me, you do _not_ want to eat Wufei's cooking. Hey, you know what? We can go out and eat ... yes, you know, somewhere far and, um, then we can ... go tour China and, uh, I'll leave you there until, um, until-"

"Oh, I think I know what's going on here," Usagi finally interrupted.

"You do?" came the piercing peep.

"You're asking me out."

Scarcely listening to her, he nodded before blinking and yelping a, "What?!"

"You're asking me out. I really have to give you credit on the artistic excuse." She cleared her throat slyly.

"No! Of course not! What are you kidding me?" he yelped louder, his voice echoing in the sun-speckled hallway.

"What was that supposed to mean?" she snarled, mind half working on the diversion and half (hurriedly) working out a strategy to dodge Hiiro's 'inquisition.' Naturally, knowing her own characters as well as her own children (if she had any) would mean she anticipated his next move...

"I, uh, um, uh, are you serious?" he finally managed, eyebrows raised.

"Oh there you are, Duo. For a second, we had thought you went to tell..." trailing off and shaking his head, Quatre smiled unsteadily at Usagi and gestured for her to follow him.

"So where are we going?"

…………………

"Miss Tsukino Usagi of Guatemala, age fifteen, height 4'11, competent finance consultant and part time assassin. Blonde hair, blue eyes, location unknown, reward of 500,000 pounds will be given to the captor of her, active member of the search for gundam pilots, and has, to date, murdered over twenty-one victims."

Usagi gaped at them as the facts they had exposed were recited to her. After fifteen minutes of glowering and griping, Hiiro had finally consented in giving her the facts. Not only was she outright scandalized ... that so many people had matched her name in a reality she had fashioned, but also that another person, bearing the same name and physical features as herself was living in Guatemala as an assassin. Yep, Lady Luck was _really_ happy with her today. Being cleverly tied to a chair did _not_ help her put the problem into focus.

"What?" her voice finally responded to the urgings of her brain and squeaked at the accusing looks that were directed at the culprit -- her.

Batting her indignant question aside, Hiiro overwhelmed it with a question of his own, "Why were you at the OZ complex?"

"I want my lawyer," she pouted and looked away, glaring at the wall, deliciously visualizing what would happen if she took a torch to it.

Watching Hiiro's eyes narrow a fraction of a millimeter per second, Duo rapidly whispered, "Answer and save your butt or don't answer and die."

"Okay ... I don't know why."

"You don't know why?" Wufei echoed incredulously, staring at her as if she had indeed taken torches to the wall.

"No, I don't."

"Care to explain?" Trowa prompted leisurely.

"I, uh, was hit on the head and then suddenly I'm here." Well, it wasn't a total lie.

"Try explaining truthfully," Hiiro barked derisively, the thinning of the eyes speeding up considerably and warningly to an awe-inspiring millimeter per second.

Blanching, she licked her lips promptly and clarified, "You wouldn't believe me if I did."

"Try us."

Lapis eyes turned from one pokerfaced countenance to the next. All had varying degrees of compassion, from none at all (Wufei and Hiiro) to eyes that evidently stated _I'm willing to get on my hands and knees if you will forgive me_ (Quatre and Duo) to silent detachedness (Trowa). 

"What do you want me to tell you?" she countered with her own challenge.

"The truth is preferred, but why don't we start at how you got to the OZ base," came the snappish retort.

She took a deep breath to stifle the anger overshadowing her reason and began. "There is a world outside of this world and that's where I truly am supposed to be. In that world, I am a manga artist, a person who creates a story and depicts it in a comic-like fashion. 

Quite a few months ago, I came up with the idea for this world, a world in the future where gargantuan robotic machines fight for peace. I came up with the idea of five teenage boys who, because of various reasons, decide to take up the offer presented to them by various scientists to battle OZ using special MS forged from gundanium. 

I was rushing to a Christmas party held at my parents' home, but the taxi driver crashed, and I bumped my head. When I woke up, I was here."

Her hasty words brought in a tide of skeptical silence that washed over five of the six people in the room. 

It was sliced by Hiiro's intimidating and demanding, "Prove it."

Her eyes waltzed from person to person before she remembered a certain something in her purse. "If you could get me my purse, I might be able to," she undertook the challenge in a mock-sweet voice and a mental cackle of victory.

At Hiiro's deliberate nod, Duo handed her her handbag, which had already suffered a weapon check. Flipping frantically through the sections with the only parts of her body that weren't entirely tied -- her forearms, she hunted for the item that could prove everything ... and save her from a horrible, horrible death.

"You wouldn't be looking for this, would you, onna?" Wufei demanded, eyes with no spark of humor in them. In his hand was the one thing she needed -- the seventh book of _Gundam Wing_ which a younger cousin of hers had requested her to bring after probing for weeks in all nearby comic stores and being informed of all of them being sold out.

She gasped and nodded wordlessly, not bothering to fulminate over the taunt. It was then thrown to her and caught neatly by hands that were all too used to her assistants chucking various writing utensils in her direction (even if she couldn't move her upper arms). 

Studying the slick cover, her mind finally registered what was so wrong -- it was blank with the exception of the mocking bold letters that declared the title of the manga. Even her name had disappeared from the cover though it wouldn't have helped much anyway -- she still used and favored the name Serenity Moon to her own.

"There was nothing in it," Trowa told her placidly. Breathing in one choking gasp of air after another, she flipped open the cover and fearfully cracked open one eye ... to find that ... he was wrong. 

"Yes there is! Read it," she protested, shoving it back into Wufei's hands. He in turn shot her a funny glance and skimmed the pages for a second time. 

Was the onna hallucinating? "Read what?" 

The horrible plummeting feeling returned, doubling in potency and laughing maniacally with glee. "Y-you can't see it?" she faltered.

He confirmed her fears with a, "See what?"

Usagi gnawed at her lip restlessly, mind pouncing on each new solution but then tossing it away when it proved useless. Finally, she plucked the best one out from the swamp of half-formed ideas that threatened to surge over any sense of reason left in her.

"Can you get me a pencil?" She directed the request to Quatre (who currently looked like he wanted a deep pit to form under the richly carpeted floor and for him to fall into it) but Trowa, in his own way, already expecting the plea, responded by aiming a mechanical one in her direction. Her mind, about to go into nervous breakdown mode, failed to direct her arms quickly enough to catch the thrown object. Instead, it landed with perfect accuracy in her lap. 

"Paper?" she asked entreatingly and was roughly handed a few sheets. 

"Untie me?" She fairly prayed this time, roughly pushing away the dark doubts that awoke at this request.

The entire gathered crowd eyed her as if she had sprouted several new appendages, thinking what she knew they would -- Do you think we're crazy or what?

"Just one arm?" she compromised, mouth nurturing a pout and eyes flickering with tears. Finally Quatre walked up to her and undid the intricate sets of knots, letting her right arm completely go free. Flexing it gently, she took hold of the pencil with expert confidence and began. With scores of rapid strokes, faces surfaced in great detail onto the plain white of the computer paper. 

"So you can draw, so what?" Duo spoke for everybody as he scanned the sketch of his friends and himself, all standing before detailed representations of their gundams.

The blonde girl seemed to pause in uncertainty at his almost taunting words but proceeded to add others to the expanding picture. Trowa silently handed her more pieces of paper. Relena, Dorothy, Hilde, Sally, Catherine, Iria, Meirin, Noin, Milliardo, and even Treize looked out at the gundam pilots from the picture, some smiling vibrantly and others sporting moody looks.

"You could have gotten pictures of all of them," Quatre supplied as explanation. The others nodded in agreement.

Sighing frustratedly, Usagi pointed out, "You're only trying to deny the obvious."

"Your explanation is _not_ the obvious, only the most illogical. We might believe you if your proof was less flimsy," Hiiro bit out, finally speaking up.

Blue eyes edged with sharp silver dashed past his. "Oh yeah? Do you have any other explanation?" she challenged bravely.

Five pairs of eyes simultaneously flickered towards the computer screen, which still displayed the bold letters of her name and what led to the situation she was in.

"I can't win with you all, can I?" she muttered to herself.

An hour of trying, unsuccessfully, to prove she was innocent ensued. Nothing seemed to work. When asked for her to recount their past lives, the ones before the gundam pilots were ever found, she foundered and quieted. True, she was planning to add a prequel to the currently seven book series but due to the need for a vacation, she had hardly thought about it. Of course, there was a brainstorming session on the airplane to her mother's house, but she had only managed to come up with the general layouts of the covers. 

"Wouldn't I have already hurt you if I wanted to?" she spoke tiredly after a five minute lapse into silence.

This remark at last seemed to warrant some reaction. 

"Let's just drop this for today," Quatre pleaded, eyeing the dozing Duo and frazzled looking Usagi.

Wufei and Trowa nodded in unison at this suggestion and turned to Hiiro, waiting for a response from their unofficial leader. Decisively, making a movement as if he were mentally sighing, he stood up and aimed a gauging look at Usagi.

"We have to take turns guarding her."

The now shaken awake Duo's face lengthened. This would undoubtedly lead to another sleepless night. Typical of Hiiro to do this to him.

"Am I going to be untied?" Usagi asked scathingly, hardly wishing to push her luck.

Marvelously blue eyes continued to examine her and finally inclined slightly in a nod. "Take her to the room without any windows and lock the door. Duo, you first." He continued despite a mournful whimper from the braided and very sleepy pilot, "Then Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, and finally me." He stood up from his seat next to the still humming machine.

"So I'm trading the chains for a cell, ne?" Usagi kidded, overlooking the frown she got from the computer's direction.

…………………

__

Ne, pretty short and pointless ... okay not really short compared to most if not all of the others but for some odd and annoying reason, my definitions of short and long are starting to change ... *sigh* Maybe you should be mourning ... once my chapters get long, they get pointless ... not that they aren't already. 


	6. Men With Quirks

Long time no see! ^^ Nehow, next installment or whatever, as you can see...

Disclaimer: That's really all I need to say...

Warnings: An author trying to be funny but failing pathetically at it. An author trying to sound professional but failing pathetically at it. An author trying to "reach" to the readers but failing pathetically at it. An author _tried _to be creative but ... ah, what's the use. Can you tell that I'm depressed yet? ^^ Even that smiley face looks sad...

Thanks to: my editors, as always. You guys still alive over there? Not going through bad writing trauma? To UsagiAsiaMaxwell, DevilsDarling, SerenityMoon, and AutumnHime. Love always. ^^

Thanks to: all the lovely people who actually read this fic. I know I neglect you ... but hey! I neglect my disclaimers too! And once ... I neglected my editors. ^^''' Not enough? Ano ... I never thank the people who provided me with anime. ^^

Thanks to: the people who provided me anime ... my friends mainly though ... especially one friend whose name my penname is a derivative of. 

Thanks to: my parents. Naturally. For paying all the bills from AOL, the electrical bills for using the computer, ignoring me when I rant about random ideas, and managing to sleep while I tap away on my amazingly loud keyboard into the night...and, of course, thanks for giving birth to me. ^^

I'm just feeling very thankful right now ... enjoy it while it lasts. ^^'''

…………………

That night, while staring at the dozing Duo sprawled out in front of her door as a barrier, waves of nostalgia besieged her. _Mom? Dad? Shingo? Artemis? Where are you all now? Do you miss me? Does Shingo still make obnoxious jokes? Does Artemis still sleep until noon?_

"How am I ever going to get back home?" she whispered brokenly to herself. Upon entering the room, her eyes had met ... walls and walls only. Blank walls for that matter. _Nothing _was in the room so she was forced, along with Duo, to sit on the (at least carpeted) floor and make use of her arms as a pillow. 

"Usa-chan, daijoubu ka?" a voice that she had heard throughout her whole life from shouting at the bullies in her kindergarten to teasing the heck out of her on the day of her prom to softly murmuring encouragements when she had given away her heart and had it returned, crushed. 

"S-shingo?" she cried out loud, looking up to see his delightfully familiar face, beaming down at her. His hand reached out and rested on hers in an act of support. Her body seemed to suffuse with warmth from that single source of empathy.

"Hai, daijoubu ... demo I'm in my own manga! You know, the newest one with the gundams and everything. But in this manga there are people with my name! And apparently one is an assassin ... and they all think I am that assassin and since they're all secret weapons for the colonies and have every weapon imaginable stocked in this mansion ... nothing is making them believe me! And ... Shingo, I'm scared ... I don't know how to get home or even whether or not I'm going to get out of this house without several bullet holes through me..." she trailed off, snuffled, and inclined into his embrace, savoring the oh-so-grieved for sensation of his arms around her.

"Usa, what did you do before they came for you?" her brother asked slowly, rocking her back and forth to the rhythm of his words.

She looked up at him, stunned and then contemplative. "Ne, I found my purse with its contents littered over the floor and then Duo tackled me, and we had an argument."

"Any sudden thoughts?"

"I-" she broke her words off sharply with a gasp as Shingo's arms fell to his sides. "I-I wondered what would happen if there were people who actually matched my name ... and what would happen if one of them matched me exactly and was an assassin out to get the pilots!" her words dashed out of her thoughts, flooding the air before silence seeped into the shadows of the room, and she pinned him down speculating eyes.

"Y-you're not real, are you, Shingo?" she wondered timorously, hushed tears beginning to sting her eyes. 

"Oh c'mon, Usa! How gullible can you get? Do I _look _real?" he waved a half-transparent hand in front of her eyes and curled his mouth up in a self-mocking grin. "You thought it was because you were crying."

Her face grew distraught at the disheartening sight as Shingo's image gradually dissipated into the gloom of night, darkness once again overriding her as she tumbled to the ground, sniffing away unvoiced tears.

"Oi, Usagi, daijoubu ka?" a voice almost unrecognizable questioned gently, and she looked up to meet liquid blue eyes filmy from sleep but shining down at her worriedly nevertheless.

"D-Duo ... hai, daijoubu," she gave the same answer again, wiping her face with a cursory swipe of her forearm.

"Ah well, Trowa is next, and he won't say much, just stand there I suspect ... well, I'm off for some _real_ sleep," he dropped the subject, trying to turn her attention from her tears. Whirling around, he yawned loudly and waved goodbye, letting a just-appeared Trowa in through the door.

_How do they do that?!_

…………………

As Duo had prophesied, Trowa just stood there. He did however move once, a cringe from a suppressed yawn. Lucky him. He was sleepy at least and could get sleep later. She _can't _sleep. It was almost as if her eyelids were glued to their place. Of course, the main cause was probably her frenetic brain, hopping hyperactively from one scenario to another idea back to that first scenario and then to _another_ idea ... and it didn't seem to be tiring either.

At last, bored to death even though brain activity was about double the normal amount, she turned to her guard and spoke. "How's it going over there, Trowa? Weather any nicer?" When he didn't react, she tried again. "Trowa?" Again, this bestowed upon her no response so, being like any ordinary human being, she got up to investigate.

He was asleep.

This was _so _not fair.

…………………

Her next tormenter came in with an adorable smile and fleeting questioning of how she was doing, but not long after, the sandman came to visit him too. Though it was apparent he was trying to stay awake, he went through transitory periods of dozing. It was almost funny watching him doze, jerk awake, look around bemusedly, pasting on his best "I'm awake" look that slowly crumbled into nothing when he dozed again, only to have the cycle repeat itself. Gosh, how bored must she be to find _this _amusing? 

She began recording how long he managed to stay awake, and he was nearing his last record of three minutes before he turned to her and met her gaze, forcing her to look away, discomfited.

"Usagi-san, Wufei is next so ... good luck," he concluded rapidly, right before the door swung open to reveal a sleepily blinking Wufei, hair sticking out at odd angles and attempts to put it up into a ponytail barely discernable. She was sure the poor rubber band was lost in there _somewhere_.

…………………

Human nosiness would frequently lead a person to idiotically poke at a poisonous spider with a stick and Usagi had never won a battle against human curiosity. Against Quatre's warning, she decided to poke the spider, using her words as the stick.

"Are you asleep, Wufei?" she asked, bored to tears though the dawning of a smile was flitting onto her face. No response.

"Because you know, if you are, I can just talk out loud and not bother you, right?" Still no answer. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Do you know how I came up with you for my manga?" As already anticipated, silence met her question, and she continued cheerily. "Well, I'll tell ya! Once upon a time there was a guy who absolutely hated women and would do anything to spite them or avoid them. One day that guy met a girl, and he hated her at first sight. He avoided her and complained about her constantly and _loudly_, for that matter. That girl reflected his actions upon him and beat him up to boot. They were married six months after that. The guy was my dad and the girl, my mom. Sounds familiar?" Again, no movement from the Chinese's direction though she could swear she had seen a red rash of anger appear on his pale cheeks.

"Well it should sound familiar because that's going to be your future ... or maybe past." The hue on his entire face darkened to a soft pink.

"Saa ... I'm bored again. Why don't I tell you another story?" No answer but the soft pink changed to a darker soft pink.

"Once there was Wufei. He was an ant," she paused to glance over again and noted with satisfaction that the pink once again darkened. "Wufei lived in an ant hill like all normal itty bitsy ants and carried peas from their food source back to the ant hill, day in and day out." The darkness of the room gave up on Wufei and no longer veiled his reddening face. 

"Now this particular colony of ants' food source was from a nearby farm owned by Duo, the happy farmer." The change this time was so striking that she had to choke back a giggle and then disguise it as clearing her throat. The pink was now dark and bordering the bright red common in lipstick.

"One day, while Wufei was out getting his pea, Duo found the ant farm and figured out_ that_ was where all his peas went. Now Duo was supporting four growing teenagers with his farm, Hiiro, Trowa, Quatre, and most importantly, himself, and he realized, with horror (delight) that he absolutely could not allow the ants to have his peas." The red was past lipstick color and reaching an almost fluorescent point, providing a lantern-like glow in the room.

"So Duo stomped all the ants in the ant hill to death and went home, whistling. Lady Luck did not like ants very much and caused Duo, the happy farmer, to spot Wufei," she peeked up at the dark-haired, red-faced boy adjacent to her casually to see that Wufei was attempting to burn a hole through the wall opposite from him. His eyes were starting to glow red with his face that was currently edging on maroon.

"As Duo picked Wufei up, the ant viciously bit the farmer and the farmer wasn't so happy any longer." The standing man beside her's face lightened faintly.

"Duo then proceeded to squish Wufei easily and grinned again, whistling home. His bite healed after an hour. The end." 

The red was at its maximum redness but steam was now pouring out of his ears. "Wufei, why do you look like you're going to blow up?" she asked naively, smothering a giggle. 

The next guard, Hiiro, chose to walk in at that moment. He glanced once at Wufei's red face and once at Usagi's guiltless one and walked out again.

"Want to hear another-"

"**_ONNA! _**Shut up!" At each word, a vast amount of color left his face until he was his normal self again.

Needless to say, the conversation ended there.

…………………

She couldn't believe she created these pilots. She had envisioned five of the most feared men, each with their own quirks and odd habits due to horrible pasts, who were constantly vigilant and never afraid. The only part she had succeeded in creating was the five men with quirks and odd habits. Four out of five pilots fell asleep. And the one who didn't was provoked by a story about him being an ant. And ... she absolutely _couldn't _believe Hiiro was sleeping! Lightly, yes, eyes half open, yes, yes, but still _sleeping._

Is this what her readers saw? What a way to make her self-esteem soar.

Duo she could forgive. Duo had always been the comic relief in the manga and the person she could relate most with. In a situation like this, she would make Duo fall asleep. Duo would always be Duo, the person with a horrible past, willing to smile at everything, able to escape Hiiro's gun and even Wufei's katana. Duo had also been brought in by the expert (herself) to underscore the true closeness of the pilots.

Wufei is understandable even. Wufei was created to counter Duo, providing a different type of humor. Wufei was there to be obnoxious, cynical, and all in all, a pain in the butt. She would have made him horrifyingly mad if he had happened to hear that story. Wufei was also there to insinuate the sense of justice in the show but even that was parodied to relieve some tension. Out of all five, Wufei would have to be the person she would like to be around the most -- there would never be one lackluster moment.

Quatre she might let go. After all, he had only dozed ... Quatre was meant to be the emotional one, the collector of readers' tears, if possible. He was the type of person she would idolize. The type of person she would try to imitate in every way. She admired him for his naivete even after all he's been through. 

Quatre was there to instill morals and provide the constant _question Are what the pilots doing right?_ He was also there for other reasons, but one of them had never been to serve as a love interest for Trowa. Oh yes, you fanfiction writers out there, this artist _does _read _everything _you write.

Trowa ... Trowa gave her a lot of grief. She couldn't get into his psyche. At all. Which led to endless bouts of depression and many restless nights. Thankfully the newest assistant she had hired understood him perfectly. 

Her question had always been _If Hiiro locked away his emotions just like Trowa, how come Trowa expresses them more easily? _Newer additions had included _Why did he become so silent ... and why the heck did I make him a clown? _

Trowa ... was there to provide help when needed, but because of her inability to understand him, he often faded into the background, and she would forget about him for periods of time until she needed him to save the day or provide insightful comments. Trowa was definitely the type of person she would have to work on understanding.

Hiiro ... is your classic male hero. She had very obviously been fatigued when she created him and had simply put him through a formula. Traumatized past? Check. Stoic exterior? Check. Violent tendencies? Check. Dark features? Will fall in love with a heroine who has fair features? Check, check. Hiiro fit the formula so perfectly ... and she had no idea where she went right. 

At first, after seeing exactly what type of character her main character was, she had wrinkled her nose in disgust and almost decided to tear it up and put it through the paper shredder. Her assistant, code name Blue Nectarine, insisted on her at least writing one chapter with him like that, something that she would like to keep as a souvenir if Usagi hated it. Apparently this assistant had developed a crush. 

While writing her first chapter, she developed an almost unsatiable curiosity for this life that was blooming in her hands. He was classic, yes, but not classic. He was prickly on the outside but almost tender on the inside. He was not necessarily human but was still subject to emotions. She loved it. Whatever kind deity had given her such a powerfully moving character is thanked and prayed to daily. 

Originally she had found him boring, too classic, too cliche, but after that forced first chapter of the first book, he became the rubix cube that she could never solve (those darn things) and the mysteriously sealed present she wanted to open. He became her most realistic character.

And what about the heroine, you ask? Relena had been tricky for her. Seeing that her main hero was already a formula, Relena had to be a parody of that. She fitted the girl through the female formula and then edited. Yes, Relena had fair features. Yes, Relena was rich. Yes, Relena was completely, head over heels in love with Hiiro. 

However, she parodied it by making her overly obsessive, with actions at times similar to a fangirl's. She tried to make her realistic and unique by allowing her to become the smart, tactful, and extremely respected vice Prime Minister and eventually the queen of all of earth. She allowed her to be strong, not somebody who cried too easily or somebody who gave up at the first glimpse of trouble. 

No, Relena was strong. But she stuck to the formula just a smidgen by making her try hard to be strong, not making it an inborn trait. And the final touch had been the decision to give her a somewhat tragic or even distorted past, to allow her to relate better to the pilots. How did she feel about Relena? She didn't feel anything ... despite her desperate attempts, Relena had never come alive for her...

What of the rest of the characters? She cared for them for the most part but with the indifference of acquaintances. They were too new in the story for her to truly reach down inside of herself, snatch a piece of her soul and breathe life into them. She had been too preoccupied with _him_ at that time.

_Give it a rest, Usagi, _her mind snarled at her annoyingly. Yes, her mind was no longer hyperactive. It's approximate miles per hour equaled 1.2 x 10 to the negative eighth power, to be precise. Yes, she should give it a rest. It was impossible for her love to be fulfilled and live to see a happy ending. It will come to its end, sputter, and die out even if only watered by one simple fact -- he wasn't real. The flame guttered dangerously as she finally truly leaned against the wall and plummeted into dreamland, hoping very much to meet him there.

…………………

ARG! The Wufei section was so pathetic! What do I like about this chapter? Nothing really ... but if I had to chose I'd opt the section with Trowa. It's short. That's the factor that led to its winning this prize. Yay. As for the rest ... I said a lot about a nothing. The art of spewing out words when you're really saying nothing. My type of job ^^ 


	7. Dead Meat

Yo people! This chapter is pretty short compared to a few of the others. My amount of time assigned to writing is dropping dramatically so … watch out, I guess. But since the ones who are still reading have been waiting for a few months for that last chapter three or something, you guys are probably used to it. I'm so cruel to you! ^^'''

Editors: I love you guys! How do you have time for this? Thanks to DevilsDarling, SerenityMoon, UsagiAsiaMaxwell, and AutumnHime. ^^

Disclaimer: I don't own it, in normal literary terms. Mathematically, the formula is "ownership=0%" which by the way is copied from some other poor author's disclaimer. (claim it if you will) If you want the artistic version, too bad for you. 

…………………

Dawn didn't wait for Usagi to wake up and neither did Hiiro. He had decided to shake her awake and then glare to get his point across. It worked effectively, really, but she knew she was going to have nightmares for at least a month. It wasn't natural to wake up to a face that impassive...

And so ... she had screamed. And glared. And than glared some more. But all of her glares tallied up together didn't even amount to a quarter of Hiiro's "super glare". Stupid character.

"I created you, you know! You would still be ink and paper without me!" she snapped in as resentful of a voice as she could muster.

"That remains untrue until proven," he stated minimally, and she was at a loss for words. His five words had robbed her of millions. 

"You're in denial," she had resorted to taunting, but he just stared at her as if she wasn't worth speaking to and walked out, shaking his head enough to allow her to see but not enough to squander energy. 

She jumped up, staggered a bit from almost completely skipping a night of sleep and rushed to the door. "You're in denial that you're in denial!" she shouted at his diminishing form. His lack of response angered her beyond words. 

…………………

Okay, if Shingo had been correct, she should be able to wish herself out of this situation, right? Attempts at this were currently being made, with eyes squeezed shut tightly and thoughts converged on her freedom. Eyes cracked open to see that she was still confined in the same room and facing several perplexed and bizarre looks.

"Are you okay, Usagi?" Duo piped up, violet eyes widening and then blinking.

She let out a groan and cradled her head in her hands. 

"We have reached a verdict," Trowa stated softly, staring at her piercingly.

Her exaggerated sobbing wavered, and she peeked upwards. "And?"

"You're free," Hiiro muttered grudgingly. He narrowed his eyes at her as she jumped from her chair and performed a warped little dance number. "But!"

"But?" Usagi immediately stopped and blanched.

"You're under probation," he declared smugly, looking right through the quizzical looks of his companions.

"Probation schmation! At least I don't have to live in that cell day in and day out!" she cheered, skipping from one pilot to the next and hugging each fiercely. 

"It worked! It worked!" she giggled, disregarding funny glances and linking arms with the baffled Duo and dancing. In a flash of a second her expression morphed to a reproachful one, and Duo fell from his position in mid-skip. 

"Of course, you know that now I officially hate you all. How could you? Against your own maker! Beware, because from now on, your lives are going to get a whole lot more complicated!" Cackling, she exited the room, humming a dirge

And now all five pilots underwent that same plummeting feeling Usagi formerly complained about. Oh God...

…………………

"Yo, Q-man, what's for dinner?" Duo asked, swinging an arm around the flustered blonde and flashing him a sloppy grin.

"Yeah, what _is_ for dinner?" a higher-pitched voice echoed before another arm was slung over his shoulder.

Quatre ducked out of both half-embraces and stared at the two. Fraternal twins? "Did you invite Usagi to stay without telling me, Duo?" he accused, incensed countenance at hand and hands on hips.

"I don't remember," the braided pilot pondered, looking up at the portrait of Quatre's great-great-great aunt, Hermelda. "Did I invite you to stay, Usagi?"

"Hmmm..." was all the blonde managed before she too was lost in thought.

The teenage billionaire moaned significantly. "You two amaze me..."

"Compliments later. What's for dinner?"

…………………

"Those two are going to be a problem, huh?" Quatre laughed apprehensively as he stared at two parallel images of gobbling down food via Duo and Usagi.

Wufei overtly groaned. Give the braided baka an accomplice? What were they thinking? But he can handle those two. He smirked at the thought.

Trowa nodded his head broodingly, a slow smile forming almost imperceptibly, curling his lips up gently. This should be amusing.

The only pessimistic response was from Hiiro. He narrowed his eyes at the food aimed into the two's mouths and thought unhappy thoughts. Very unhappy thoughts.

"What made us conclude with that verdict?" he demanded quietly, not bothering to face the people he meant the question for.

A long, drawn-out pause followed. "Come to think of it, I don't really know," the initiator of the conversation, Quatre, murmured, befuddled. "Gut instinct?"

"And how often have our gut instincts been wrong?" Wufei supplied, eyeing Hiiro sideways with intent.

"My gut instinct didn't tell me to rule that verdict," he lied and turned away, overlooking Quatre's hidden smile. 

…………………

She gazed at the buttons fretfully, concentrating with such vigor that her brow puckered and tongue peeked out at the side of her mouth. How to get this started…

A strand of blonde hair fell into her face, and she batted it away hastily. With a short burst of energy, she straightened and grinned, pressing down a single electric blue square. A faint purring followed, and she was on her way.

_This should be fun, _her mind reassured, and her hand moved to grab the control device and twist it. Not long later, she was looking out at bewildered birds and looking down on trees. Doing this had been an almost lifelong dream. She's not letting this opportunity go no matter what.

So the design wasn't as she had predicted. No biggy. This should be fine, still. Haphazardly pushing down other buttons, her lips curved up at the sensation of movement. 

A sudden lurch made her gasp, and after she straightened, her jaw fell. Yes, she knew it was capable of doing this, but of all the buttons her fingers aimed at, her luck would land her on this one?

…………………

"We have another mission," he told them while running. Of course, none of them knew why they were running until then. 

"So? We don't have to leave now, do we?" Duo whined childishly, keeping up with the group but not liking it one bit.

"Short notice. We leave now," Hiiro replied briskly.

"What about Usagi?" Trowa prompted, still running but glancing at his comrades. Quatre skidded to a stop along with Duo. The rest followed suit though Hiiro did so with more than a little bit of displeasure.

Fuming blue eyes flashed hazardously with impatience. "What about her?"

"We can't just leave her here!" the owner of the house pointed out, eyes wavering with indecisiveness. 

"Yes we can, and we have to. You have the Maguanacs."

After a passing pause to think, the blonde nodded abruptly, and the group pushed onwards.

Reaching the concealed chamber, Trowa punched the code into the wall, and the panel slid open, presenting them a stunning sight. Four metallic giants, luminous from the little light that shone through blinded windows, stood with majestic tranquillity. 

Hold on … _four?_

"Duo…" the pilot of Wing growled expressively.

The braided boy turned around from his position of five meters from his own Gundam and blinked. "What?"

"What'd you do with Wing?" Hiiro challenged before four heads snapped to the vacant spot of the silvery Gundam.

"Uh-oh…" 

"What?" he demanded.

Duo had already rushed to the window, eyes wide, gazing at something through lifted blinds. 

"What?" he demanded again as all other pilots flocked him and proceeded to drop their jaws.

After getting no answer whatsoever, he moved to the window personally and looked through. There, flying through the sky, doing acrobatic maneuvers that put Trowa to shame was a Gundam. _His _Gundam. And that could only be one person piloting it…

"What the hell is that girl doing in _my _Wing?!"

…………………

Yay! Another chapter! Short, yes. This chapter was fun for me though. ^^ Anyhow, review please!


	8. Gift for Quatre

Disclaimer: Usagi doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, Luna doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon, Hiiro doesn't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Stay tuned until next chapter to learn whether or not I own Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon. (I think people are suspicious because I keep refraining from saying that I don't own the two animes … check back and see. ^^)

Ea-dee-tours! Welcome onto the bandwagon, Serenity-Moon! Thanks to UsagiAsiaMaxwell and Serenity-Moon (a.k.a. Lady Artemis). Apologies to DevilsDarling, AutumnHime, and SerenityMoon for not waiting for your replies. I'm just not sure if I'll get another chance to update anytime soon … again, sorry. 

………………….

The braided pilot's eyes would have skittered skittishly across Hiiro's briskly darkening features if they weren't glued to the silver luster of metal outside scattering birds and cart-wheeling in rapture, a thrilling sight for anyone. 

The spell was pulverized inelegantly and simultaneously by all five pilots - Hiiro's hiss of rage, Wufei's snort, Trowa's crescendoing laughter, Quatre's choked gulp, and Duo's peals of giggles. 

Of course, Usagi didn't know she had acquired an audience and was, at present, echoing Duo's giggles delightedly, pressing down more buttons but steering clear of the sections she knew to be weaponry related. Scaring the birds is one thing; machine gunning them is another. 

Duo's snickers abruptly melted away, but since it was obscured in the others' guffawing, it went by unheeded. Until…

"Uh-oh…"

An 'uh-oh' from Duo was never shoved into the background. Millions were paid as the consequence. All pilots broke off, even Hiiro (though his left eye was still twitching fiercely) and leveled gazes onto the braided pilot. His eyes, however, were again aimed at the window.

Quatre reflexes kicked in first, and he followed Duo's stare.

"Uh-oh…"

The remaining trio turned as well and again, jaws plunged to perilously low levels. All three faltered under the impulse to ejaculate the notorious 'uh-oh' as well. And did.

………………….

Outside, a correlating comprehension was dawning. Once she had shook the giddiness from her head, her vision cleared. What were _those?_ Ah yes, she remembered now. Her eyes grew wide. This wasn't supposed to go this far! A recurring phrase splintered the serene whining of Wing.

"Uh-oh…"

……………………

Before anybody could process the information, Duo was at his Gundam, clambering up nimbly and bellowing at the rest to snap out of it.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Of all the days!" he yelped piercingly, and for once, Quatre wasn't there to offer a lecture. 

Hiiro's legs carried him to the nearest Gundam, Deathscythe, as quickly as thought, and he grabbed a hold of Duo's collar. 

"_You_ stay behind!" 

"Hiiro!" came the boyish whine. "This is _my _Gundam, you know! Assigned to me by Usagi, our designer, or whatever she is."

Eyeing the enlarging flares in the sky as disquiet clogged up his throat, he eventually nodded curtly. "Take this," he instructed and thrust a communicator into Duo's fumbling hands before leaping back down to the ground.

"I give directions to you, you relay to her."

Not long after, an electric green scythe joined the battle against the flocking Leos, thoughtlessly shielding Gundam 01.

.................................

"Any news yet, Motoki?" 

A head stranded with silver looked up and then shook dolefully as the owner picked at the scrambled eggs.

"If you want news, there is plenty," Shingo grunted scorchingly, dropping another small mountain of newspapers onto the table. 

Headlines read: Tsukino Usagi's Disappearance: An Interview With Bewildered Cab Driver. 

"They know about the accident?" Kenji asked, alarmed, glancing up and back at his son.

"Well, now they do." His eyes pursued Motoki as the man stood up, excused himself and walked back down the hall to the guest room. 

.…………………….

"Any news yet, Luna?" he spoke in an undertone into the telephone, pulling on a jacket while doing so.

"No, not at all. What happened, Art? You were supposed to _repel _danger fromher!"

"Not my fault I was suffocating in the duffel bag."

The violet-curled woman sighed. A jittery silence followed while both walked towards their respective windows and looked out at a pastoral scene before them.

"I have found a possible route to where she has gone. However ... things just aren't the same without Ami on our side."

His burnished silver eyes glowed gently at this. "A possible route?"

"Yes."

.....................

"Press A 16!" he shouted to her over the intercom, past the fragments of static, conveying Hiiro's order. 

"Go away! I can handle this on my own!" she yelled back, frustratedly sweeping her hands over the buttons, realizing that the control panel was similar to that of the video game she had helped fashion.

"Go away! I can handle this on my own!" he echoed back to Hiiro, not paying attention to what he was saying.

"What the _hell_?! I'm _helping_ you here!" the true pilot of 01 shot back hotly.

Again, Duo repeated the message over the intercom, swinging a deadly flash of green, concentrating on the conflict of Wufei's current location with his.

"I don't need any help!" was the reply before the intercom was shut down.

The message was reiterated and accepted not all too happily.

"That no-good-" was all he could manage before Duo shut down the communicator as well. Apparently, he _was_ attentive. 

Hiiro began to seethe.

........................

"How do we find that specific type of metal in a junkyard like this?!" he demanded, eyes encompassing the wreckage that littered the dump. 

"Gundanium is silver in color and resistant to damages. If we're lucky, it should be the only thing gleaming brightly in the sun for miles," Luna muttered, typing continuously at her laptop, comfortably located in the leather seat of her Mercedes. 

Hey, publishing pays well.

"I see it! Drive over there!" the platinum-haired man cried breathlessly, shaking Luna on the shoulder. 

"I'm not driving over _that_ garbage! Get out and walk!" 

But apparently it didn't pay _that _well.

.....................

Yes, she's got this. The buttons were genuinely identical to those of the video game, and she was having a blast. She avoided being hit as often as possible, but when an attack did befall her, the Gundanium metal shrugged it off casually. 

"Thank you!" she whispered exaggeratedly to the deity of her inspiration -- the one who gave her Hiiro, Gundanium, and now, her life. 

.............................

Oh my god, she's got this. He stared assessingly out of the window, fettering blinds now completely lifted and the whole five, wide panes of window unveiled, giving him a perfect, front row seat to the extravagant show outside. 

The girl acted as if she had piloted a gundam for her whole life! Okay, maybe not, but for the majority of her life at least. Other than a few accidental or overlapping moves, like when one hand reached out to knock an enemy aside, and the left leg made a movement as if it were about to kick a football, she was piloting like a pro. 

Of course, by laymen's eyes, these gestures could be seen as expert. The leg that moved? It knocked out another Mobile Suit. 

Sandrock threw off another MS, and it hurtled towards the mansion. Okay, standing with your nose pressed to the window as a Leo fell closer and closer was not smart. He rolled away and ducked expertly as the chunk of metal collided with the wall, shattering the windows, and leaving a nice souvenir for Quatre. 

.........................

"Hiiro, Hiiro! Did you see her?! She was awesome!" the pilot of Deathscythe scrambled off of his Gundam and fairly skipped over to the stoic pilot, who had just run down five flights of stairs to reach the ground floor and storm through the doors.

Disregarding Duo's elated ramblings, he focused his eyes straight ahead, into the eyes of one Tsukino Usagi.

Sky blue clashed midnight as their gazes locked, each color battling for control. 

.................................

"Usagi? Usa-chan?" Minako called out into the studio halls, dragging Hotaru with her. 

"Yes? How may I help you?" a young woman dressed in a dirtied apron asked distractedly, examining her graphite-smeared hand. 

"Where's Usagi?"

"Ah yes, Miss Aino," she acknowledged evenly, now used to the appearances of the stylish star. "Usagi hasn't been around for the last week or so. What do you need?"

"If she isn't around, what are you all doing here?" Hotaru spoke up, inquisitively.

The assistant shrugged cheerily. "We still keep on inking and perfecting her drawings! She left Book Eight with us."

Another poked her head out from inside the room. "Setsuna-san? Mako is doing it again!" the pink-eyed girl muttered despairingly. 

"Again?" The woman they had been talking to groaned. "Tell her that I command her to stop wasting her time writing alternate chapters that do not follow Usagi's plan."

"Hai, hai," the short girl mumbled unenthusiastically before ambling back into the room, piercingly calling out, "Makoto!"

..........................

"I'm going to have to remove that self destruct button when I get back. It gets in the way," she broke the gaze unexpectedly. 

He didn't answer. 

"How did you know how to pilot Wing?" Trowa asked incredulously.

A wide grin covered her face. "Well, I created it, you know! I should know!" Ah yes, now the case was definitely won and closed with a loud, sharp bang.

"Hiiro! You're going to be losing your job if Usagi pilots Wing anymore!" Duo commented slyly, nudging him happily. 

"Really?" he retorted nonchalantly. Duo took the remark seriously.

"What, didn't you watch the whole battle?"

"I was hit by a fallen Leo," he supplied dryly.

Wufei turned to the surreally smiling Quatre. "Aren't you worried about your house?"

The blonde jerked out of his reverie and smiled serenely in response. "I've learned to get insurance. With Duo and all."

"Aren't you going to kill me now, Hiiro?" she teased, glancing up smugly at him. 

Instead, he turned until his back was towards her. "I think I'll wait until a better time presents itself," he stated eerily, casting her a smirk over his shoulder before walking off towards the mansion again.

The bubble of silence that resulted was burst by Usagi's squeak. "He's not serious, is he?"

........................

Ah yes, Usagi is going to die. Or whatever you guys think. But for the sake of the story, we shall postpone it, ne? ^^ Writing this chapter was tedious ... I ran out of ideas. Darn it. : P Ah yes, turning point coming up soon! ^^ *snicker* Review please! 

***Note: I am currently focusing on this fic in particular because I want to _finish _something for once. Note that I have not finished any of my series. This is so embarrassing … but anyhow. For those of you who like this fic, yay! For those who are anticipating others … sorry. I'm trying to focus what time I have into this one and then once (if) I finish, I'll move on to the next and then the next, etc. **_PLUS_,** I _really_ want to write the last chapter for this! And you'll probably think I'm wacko when you read it… *smile*


	9. Rebel Not Without A Cause

Disclaimer: Yes, I had owned GW and SM before, but that's no reason to believe that I still do! I own neither GW nor SM. Currently. 

Editors: Thank you a lot, a lot, a lot for supporting me and helping me. You guys are great! UsagiAsiaMaxwell and Serenity-Moon a.k.a. Lady Artemis. AutumnHime, sorry to hear that your computer is so ... incompatible? ^^''' S'okay. DevilsDarling, SerenityMoon, where are you guys? Lol. Okay, I understand. I need a break from my writing too. ^^''' And I have this uncanny ability to _not_ improve. ^^''' 

…………………

All residents of the mansion seemed to obtain a new degree of admiration for her and awed stares trailed her when she walked by. Definitely something she could get used to. 

But as always, Hiiro was the rebel, though perhaps _not_ without a cause. Hiiro was not somebody to make an enemy of and though she wasn't sure how intensely his feelings of bitterness ran for her, she was sure of one thing: it wasn't something she _wanted_ to get used to. Sleepless nights, gasping at every shadow that moved, and nightmares were _not_ in her agenda. 

A conciliatory action was in order … but what? Hiiro certainly wasn't somebody to go for bribes. She would know. Regardless of his habitually ruthless actions, he was bent on being fair, another peculiarity she hadn't premeditated. So yes, netting in his Gundam and then break dancing with it wasn't the cleverest thing she'd ever done in her life.

And what she planned on doing next wasn't either. 

…………………..

"No news," he broadcasted before the question was even asked. 

"No _good _news," Shingo added resentfully.

"Since when did you become a cynic?" Minako mocked and then shied away from the riled glance intended for her. "Jeez, jeez, just trying to lighten the mood!" 

"Yes, Minako has all your best interests at heart," Hotaru defended. Then, grinning impishly added, "She just doesn't know how to show it yet."

"Hotaru!" 

The silky-haired girl batted her violet eyes innocently. "Don't you think it's correct, Mina-chan?"

Shingo forced a smile onto his face and blinked away tears. "Thanks for the entertainment, but you really don't have to work to lighten the mood." He strode out of the room without another word.

"Were you acting, Hota-chan?" Mina asked numbly, staring after her male cousin.

"Yes. Weren't you?"

The red-bowed blonde giggled timidly. "No?"

…………..

"Art! Where are you going _now?"_ she yelled at his back.

"I think I saw it!"

"What is this, the thousandth time? Give it up for today, okay?" she pleaded, looking down at her soiled and sweaty clothes. 

"Since when did you become so selfish?" came the vague snarl.

Wide lavender eyes blinked and then blinked again. Her mouth opened and closed wordlessly. "_I'm _her mentor, not you! This is _my _job!" she huffed.

"Well I'm sorry if I care about her too," he bit out sharply, suddenly in front of her, casting her in his shadow. She gulped and looked down. 

"Luna?"

"Yes?" she responded meekly, still staring at his feet.

"You're standing on it," he said, not unkindly.

........................

"Mako-chan! You're doing it _again?!" _Reeni whined, letting her head fall in defeat.

An emerald gaze flashed up at her before the brunette threw herself over the sketchy doodles. "Whoops! You weren't supposed to see that," she chuckled cautiously.

"Well, aren't we a genius?" the tall, slightly pink-haired teen retorted and let go of a long breath. 

"What's this one about?" Despite Makoto's lack of true activity when she plotted her own alternate endings, they were quite entertaining. And more than once, she had seen Usagi ask the brunette what they were about, something that she herself envied beyond words. To her, Usagi was the epitome of an artist, a writer, and, most importantly, a person. Hence the similar hairstyle. 

"Hiiro's going to self-destruct."

Reeni eyed her as if she were a moron. "Good luck showing it to Usagi," she stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

The tall girl frowned. "Why? Don't you think she'll like it?" 

"Remember, Mako? Usagi is trying to keep this _light,_ and that does _not_ include adding suicide to it!"

The frown left her face and was replaced by a dreamy smile. "Well I think it's quite heroic!"

"You and your crushes, Mako." The Usagi fanatic rolled her eyes vividly before bursting out in a fit of laughter.

......................

"What do you want?" was the cross reply she got when she knocked on his door.

She opened her mouth furiously, about to counter before rethinking what needed to be done. She settled for closing it sharply and letting a smile melt over her face.

"I'm here to compromise," she stated sweetly.

There was something wrong here. The Usagi he had _somehow_ come to know did not just let a remark like his go. But this conversation is bound to be anything but ordinary...

"I'm listening."

"Since I'm not so bad at piloting a Gundam-"

He interrupted her with a snort. "If you want to gloat, save it for later," he sniped, turning and walking back into his room, letting her stand at the doorway. She tailed him.

"I was _saying,_" she tried again frustratedly.

"I heard you."

Ignoring his statement, she continued. "I was saying that since I'm not so bad at piloting a Gundam, I'm challenging you." Oh yes, definitely not smart. But at least a challenge was something the held the slightest chance of gaining Hiiro's consent.

"Smart move," he quipped, smirking at her. The girl had wandered into his territory? Let her embarrass herself.

Again, she looked through his remark. "And if you win-"

"_When_ I win," he corrected, disregarding her irritated look.

"_If _you win, I will never bother you again."

"Tempting."

"But! If _I_ win-"

He interrupted with another snort, noting with a look of amusement as fire and lightening flashed dangerously in her orbs of blue but then contained themselves.

"If I win-"

This time the person who interrupted was not Hiiro. Duo surged in through the door with an expression of utter horror adorning his features. "Usagi! Hiiro! I pushed _Quatre_ too far!" he gasped desperately.

"Duo!" the usually saintly voice was choked and stretched into a discordant bark.

The braided pilot's face spasmed in a look of utter terror that even Wufei hadn't achieved. With that, he made like a madman out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Wait a second. Hiiro and Usagi in one room? He tripped and slid to a stop on his side. Clambering back up, he pondered, wide-eyed, at the thought. What the-

"_Duo!_" Again came the far more than peeved cry for revenge.

He started straining again to gain momentum, thoughts flying out of his head with the wind his running gave birth to.

Back in the room, silence had settled in as both listened intently to the chaos outside, Hiiro with a sadistic grin and Usagi with a baffled look. She had never written this scene...

At last, realization dawned on her. _Mako-chan, you have a twisted, twisted mind._

"So?" he prompted when the footsteps died away. 

"Oh, yes! If I win, then," she broke off and giggled uncertainly, "you won't kill me."

"Unless you bother me again," he improved.

"Unless I bother you again."

A protracted pause followed before Hiiro moved his head in a decisive manner.

"Deal."

From down the hall came a hysterical howl of, "Hiiro! Usagi! Why aren't you guys _helping _me?!" followed by an unnatural cackle of glory.

...........................

Well then, dull as this chapter is, it's really important. It sets the stage. The climax is coming next chapter and then everything else will be in the denouement_. What the heck!?_ you ask? _There hasn't even been any romance yet! _My thoughts exactly. 

I know I'm pushing this ... I'll try my best to add more tidbits in and stall the climax but ... it's not working so far. **Please help me with ideas! **Because the plot as I have roughly imagined is not realistic. Even I don't feel that the relationship between Usagi and Anonymous Pilot is for real.


	10. The Colors of Love

Disclaimer: My dear friend, Naoko, gave Sailor Moon to me on Friday! So now all I do _not _own is Gundam Wing. ^^

Editors: As always, I want to thank you guys. We've been through thick and thin for more than half a year already! Thank you Usagi Asia Maxwell and Autumn Hime. I've missed you, AH! As for SerenityMoon and DevilsDarling, I'm really, desperately wondering where you guys are…

I'd like to give special thanks to all of you who have reviewed, even if it was just once and I never saw you again. ^^''' You guys are great all the way from the beginning, from reassuring me that this idea is not born from a lunatic's mind to … again reassuring me that the couple is realistic and their love believable. 

I'd like to thank **I Am The Walrus-chan** for taking so much time in writing a long review and pointing out how the couple will work out. I am also **desperately **trying to find out who the **anonymous** reviewer without a name displaying on the … name place thingi is. It'd be nice if you know anything. Thanks to that person, I won't have the analyze the different Usagi couples myself! 

Also, thanks to **Cheska** and **Firefly Princess** for being patient enough to review ever chapter, one at a time … it's really sweet of you. ^^''' 

****

But those people aren't the only reasons for this fic. However corny this sounds, you all have helped make this fic what it is and hopefully will be … **and I'd like to thank you, even if, in my eyes, that is far from enough**. ^^''' I'm sure you all are tired of hearing me by mushy … I'll stop! ^^'''

........................

Of course, once the remainder of the group were brought up to date in accordance with this recent development (after Quatre was calm enough to approach), each and every pilot leapt at the prospect of being the referee. Check that: only Duo leapt. 

A big fuss stemmed from gargantuan prides before a compromise was reached -- Quatre would referee. And after that little bout of psychosis that still sparkled in the now quietly smiling blonde, nobody wanted to argue. Especially not Duo.

The next hurdle was whose Gundam Usagi would pilot, for Hiiro sure wasn't giving his up again. An insightful analysis of which Gundam was more suitable resulted, sounding something like this:

"Mine's better!"

"Nataku can beat yours any day!"

"Oh yeah?!"

"Due to an analysis of artillery and endurance, mine is actually better."

"Well ... well ... mine's _prettier_!"

In the end, Usagi chose Duo's for sake of her life. Wufei's katana regularly made itself known in a silver flash, Trowa didn't truly care either way, Quatre was already engrossed with being the referee, but Duo ... Duo's pranks can spring up anywhere.

"So what are the stakes?" Oh yes, they still didn't know. 

"My life for Hiiro's sanity," she responded cryptically.

"I'm ready," her opponent interrupted challengingly.

"Same here."

"This is going to be so much _fun!"_ Duo laughed, swinging an arm around Usagi, mumbling pointers to her under his breath.

.........................

"Well? What do we do _now_?" he demanded, still gazing at the silver sheet of metal with Luna, neither reaching to touch it after initially digging it up from underneath garbage.

"I don't know," she answered candidly. "I had assumed all we had to do was touch it, but apparently that is not the case." She reached the tip of her toe over to the metal and tapped. Nothing.

"Well, a nice mess you've gotten us into," he sighed, sitting down and swiping the sweat off of his forehead with a casual sleeve.

She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him up, dragging him before he gained his balance. "C'mon. Back to the laptop. You'd think I'm turning into Hiiro."

"Who?"

"Never mind."

........................

This was perfect. No, far more than perfect. Yes, Wing's control panel was similar to that of her video game, but Deathscythe's was exactly the same! Must be due to high demand of readers for Deathscythe...

The apprehension had already left and was replaced by a severe feeling of exhilaration and anticipation. After all, what did she have to lose? Her life? This story was in her hands and no matter how strongly the rest of the world believes that she's insane, she sure wasn't stupid enough to wish her own demise. 

Victory was already at hand, and her poor opponent still didn't know. She laughed out loud with glee.

"Oi, are you okay over there?" Wufei hollered up at her. A fretful look passed over Duo's face.

"You're not experiencing the Quatre syndrome are you?"

In the background came a dim snarl of, "I resent that!"

"I didn't mean anything by it!" The pilot of 02's shoulders were rigid as he quickly yelped out his innocence.

"Are you ready or not," Hiiro's voice crackled over the communication system. She gave him a cocky grin.

"Am I ever _not_?" With that, the cockpit door closed with a clanging bang and the squabbling outside became faded murmurs. 

The first step was to get into the sky. No problem yet! Soon both were hovering outside, and Usagi watched with amusement as the rest of the gang snapped out of their quarrelling phase and sprinted to catch up. 

Quatre had grabbed a fluorescent flag while on the way though how everything was so well planned, she had no idea. 

The signal to begin flashed through the air. Here goes nothing.

............................

"Says here we should try soaking it in sodium hydroxide and copper sulfate," she mumbled, typing away feverishly.

"And do what, test for protein?" he snorted, looking over her shoulder at the weakly flickering screen. 

She stopped sharply and glanced back. "That's the test for protein?" she offered as a tangent before resuming typing. 

An extensive silence followed, clouding the car with impatience and unease. 

"Ah!" the possessor of the laptop cried out happily, making the person sitting behind her jump. 

"It says here that Gundanium needs to be in the presence of an activator, something to trigger it, in order to lead you to its original location ... hmmm ... a possibility is mineral water."

"Do you have mineral water?" he asked despairingly, glancing around the car.

"Not a chance."

"How far away is the nearest grocery store?"

"Hmmm ... maybe fifty to sixty miles."

"Great." He slumped back into the seat, his hair tangling chaotically behind him, and closed his eyes. Just fifteen minutes of sleep ... a catnap, really.

........................

His first move was to get above her. She beamed at the white flash and shook her head. How many times had Shingo tried that ploy on her? 

Fire erupted from the silver Gundam as Usagi dodged jerkily, gripping the throttle so forcefully that her knuckles turned white and jutted out sharply. He didn't wait for the fire to fade and sparks to vanish before swooping down towards her. 

_Oh God, he's fast... _Panic had always been the worst solution so instead, she chose to meet him halfway, counter his impact with her own. Bright green scythe acting both as a shield and a weapon, she advanced.

.......................

An hours drive was enough to make anybody cranky, but after a previous hour of sifting through a junkyard, she was spitting mad. And Artemis's snores from behind her made her want to drop the planet Pluto onto him. 

Getting out of the car, she didn't bother to wake him. A sweeter revenge was in sight. A ding ricocheted off of white walls in the cheerfully lit convenience store as she walked in. She grabbed the nearest six pack of water and headed towards the register. 

Nobody was there. Scowling, she dug into her pocket for a twenty and left it there, a post-it note attached. 

Striding back towards the car, she tore one bottle out of its binding and twisted the cap off. Opening the back door, she proceeded to dump the entire bottle's contents onto Artemis.

The man woke up with a yelp followed by several sputters. "What the-"

"Are you awake now, Arty-chan?" she purred into his ear. 

"Luna!" he whined, looking desolately up at her, the quintessence of a wet cat.

"Now you feel about half as bad as I do."

"Luna!" he repeated, pulling a few fingers through wet, tousled hair.

"If I don't get to sleep, you don't either," she bargained tartly. 

"Fine," he muttered sullenly.

"Fine."

......................

A blaze of electricity passed between the two Gundams followed by a sound even worse than the screeching of nails on blackboards. She ground her teeth with vigor and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Gundanium was resilient to injury, but heat was a whole other matter. The air around her was getting noticeably warmer. She cracked an eye open and tried to look below her at the ground. 

Uh-oh ... trees were getting closer and so were the four figures. _He's forcing me down_ she realized with an indignant cry. 

Now, if she had been paying enough attention in her math classes, he had to be using a certain angle to amplify his strength ... the only thing she had to do was change that angle. 

She broke the contact, and slipped upwards. He faltered. 

...................

"You actually think mineral water will work?" he asked her sarcastically. 

"Yes."

"Well, if it doesn't, we'll have to go back! Why didn't you pick up some orange and grape juices there too? Those might work," he nagged, following her.

"It's more likely this will work because of the varied amounts of minerals in it," she explained, not cheerfully, but not harshly. 

By then, they had reached the metallic glare again. 

...................

He flew up to her and aimed. She darted away and tumbled downwards in a controlled fall. The world swirled incessantly around her as colors merged, jumbled, and distorted -- green, blue, lavender, silver.

......................

. A crystal stream of liquid fell and slipped onto silver. Gray and lavender watched intently, both with hands laid on its cool surface. Crystal convened with silver as lavender and gray glowed intensely.

........................

An explosion of lightening green joined the sickeningly colorful dance around her. She closed her eyes, but nothing changed. She needed to stop .... stop ... burnt saffron joined the assortment, the flare of artillery.

..........................

Her hand seized his as the metal smoldered even more fiercely, crystal merging with silver. 

.......................

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, brows furrowed, and plummeted downwards. Ultraviolet purple broke past the horizon.

....................

Gray met lavender as silver glimmered in the background. Ultraviolet purple dimmed their world.

...................

"Usagi!" Male and female voice entwined, shouting out a single word was both watched the blur of black plunge downwards. 

"Luna? Artemis?" she whispered hazily, eyes bewildered, then alarmed, and finally, closed.

..........................

A cliffhanger. Okie dokie then! ^^ 

Has anybody else noticed the details in this fic? They are VERY contradictory! Okay, maybe not, but still. They don't make sense. I, for one, am painfully aware of them … an example? Hiiro is currently fifteen by Gundam Wing terms and time period, and I had stated in the prologue that Usagi is nineteen. ARG! I hate myself. I know I can change it, and I will, but for those of you who have already followed me this far, PLEASE NOTE THIS! Thanks. ^^

Have fun waiting for the next chapter! And **_review_**! ^^


	11. Hating with Passion

Disclaimer: Did I ever own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon? Okay … no, that approach doesn't work. Well, anyhow, I don't own either of the two animes now! 

Thanks to my lovely editors who had the decency to chop up all of my paragraphs and then tell me to edit some more. Lol … maybe I'm just exaggerating … thank you's to Usagi Asia Maxwell, AutumnHime, Lady Artemis, and DevilsDarling for your continuous, *ahem*, support. (*cough* criticism *cough*) *Ducks from flying fruit* Just kidding, sheesh, just kidding … ^^'''

……………………

A listless voice cut through the barrier of her unconsciousness and droned on, listing overwhelming injuries. Was somebody watching ER? 

"…slight concussion, compound fracture of the right radius and fibula. Tension on the right elbow, snapping of left ACL, pinched nerve at thoracic number eight, some internal bleeding, general scratches and cuts on right side…"

The words careened in and out of her mind, one minute unmistakable and then next misty with fog. She tried to lift her eyelids, but they were too heavy and insisted on only fluttered. A soft hand swept a wisp of hair off of her face and came to a rest upon her own. Curiosity showered over her.

She tried again to open her eyes, whimpering out loud from the cosmic amount energy that it seemed to necessitate. Her senses registered a blurred picture before everything slid into focus. 

"Usagi! You're all right!" the dark-haired woman cried out, looking as if she wanted to jump up and hug her but settling for gripping the blonde's hand between her own.

"Where am I?" she found herself whispering, throat straining to create sound. 

"Quatre's mansion. You lost control of Deathscythe with all the turbulence in the air made by Art and me, and fairly crashed to the ground. Apparently you landed on your right side."

Everything seemed so surreal. There was a daze after the information was presented to her, but really, the amount of shock she was enduring was nothing at all compared to what she had expected. "And the others? Are they okay?"

"They're all fine. Very worried, but fine."

She nodded dimly and settled down into the pillows. 

"Art and I have something to discuss with you, but with you in the shape you are, it'll be at least a month or two before we'll even try to tackle the problem."

"Art?" 

"Artemis."

"_Artemis!_" She sprang up to a sitting position and bit down hard to keep from yelping out loud from the pain. A warm metallic taste swept through her mouth. 

Luna's hands immediately moved to support the teen but stopped when the girl turned to her slowly.

"Luna? What are you doing here?"

By now the vivacious woman was very bothered. Usagi, undoubtedly, had been in shock, but did it go so far as make her not recognize that she was Luna throughout the bulk of their conversation? "Usagi, _are_ you all right?"

"Ugh…I feel horrible." Usagi made a face and looked down at herself. "But probably not as horrible as I should be," she added softly.

"We'll have to keep you on the painkillers."

"Is everybody else all right?"

"Dear, you just asked that question not five minutes ago," Luna said fretfully, brow puckered with distress.

The blonde shrugged with one shoulder. "I guess I wasn't really thinking then."

………………….

He had geared up an answer for all of Quatre's remonstrations and reprimands. He had thought out how to clarify that he was _not _in the wrong. But nothing prepared him for Quatre's wide-eyed silence and the girl's - Usagi's - wilting figure. 

The conversation was meant to prove that nothing was his fault. 

__

Why did he continue to fire when she was falling? 

It was a controlled fall. 

__

But she's an amateur! 

She sure didn't act like one.

He had all the answers, but that one teary-eyed look from Quatre, backed with the panicked face of Duo, stony silence of Wufei, and unrelenting gaze of Trowa made them all evaporate. He had uttered nothing and looked away. 

She was lucky that she was still alive. She was lucky that Deathscythe hadn't caught on fire. She was lucky … but if she hadn't been practically dueling him, she wouldn't have needed to be lucky. He needed to see her. To help her, to make up for his actions.

In short, he hated himself with passion.

…………………

Not a word passed through the still air when Hiiro got up and paced out of the room. Duo's eyes flickered up at him, once, twice, thrice, but no sound came out of him. Wufei's eyes narrowed but then returned to their previous task of staring a hole through the floor. Trowa's shoulders tensed and then relaxed slowly, an inaudible breath passing through his lips. Quatre raised his eyebrow covertly and hid his face.

The dying away of the footsteps followed by the clicking of a closing door brought a tsunami of relief, washing away the heavy dust of tension. Quatre smiled a small smile, and Duo slumped.

"Ten minutes and thirty-two seconds. Gentlemen, I believe we had a wager?" Quatre grinned. 

"It's truly dishonorable that you are thinking of money when that gi - Usagi is in such bad shape," Wufei muttered.

"Oh, Wufei, we all know she'll be all right. Like you said, when have our gut instincts been wrong?"

"Yeah Wu-man! Cough it up!"

"I noticed you hadn't guessed correctly either, Duo," Trowa pointed out softly, arching an eyebrow while reaching for his wallet.

The braided boy shrugged carelessly. "Who would have thought Hiiro only needed ten minutes? I had thought at least ten _hours_. Besides, I wasn't the only one to miss! Wufei here missed by two days!"

"Hiiro's emotion-starved mind **[1] **is gouging at him. He had never truly understood Usagi and now a newfound emotion has mingled into the mayhem - guilt."

"Hmm … I still have my doubts on how this will work out. According to her, we're not real. And though we might have realized that something is up with Yui, he sure doesn't," Wufei put in cynically.

"Aren't you assuming too much Quatre? For all we know, it could only be friendship! After all, what about that Relena girl?"

"Stop changing the subject. I believe we agreed on five dollars per person?"

Grumbling, Duo dug into his pocket for money. "Now who's changing the subject?"

…………………

The room was strangely quiet and the woman … Luna was it? didn't even flinch at the sound of the door. He slipped in inaudibly and stood still for a brief eternity.

It looked like some scene out of a soap opera. He shook his head and frowned. Great, now his mind was getting twisted by those once-again horribly popular wastes of time. Resentfully, he had to admit that it was a near-perfect analogy.

The machines were beeping with dissonance while wires and tubes interlaced around a tiny figure almost drowning in white sheets. A worried friend sat by, pale-faced and soft-eyed with hands clasped around the patient's. 

The room itself was anything but hospital-like, though. Instead of freakishly bare, white walls, puffy clouds waltzed around in a whirl of blue. Silver angel wings flickered in and out of sight as they caught the light. The bed and all things associated with it seemed to be pasted into the room by the hands of some devious computer-genius who tinkered with photos. Either Quatre or God had a sense of humor, but who, he really didn't know.

"Hello Hiiro." The faint voice made him jump as if it were blared through a microphone. He grunted vaguely in response and stepped closer. 

"It would really be amusing to meet you if the situation had been a little different. Usagi always ranted about you - your clothes, hair, shading. She was never satisfied, and now I understand why."

He was beyond confused. What was this woman talking about? The only way all this could make sense is if what Usagi had proclaimed was true. Nevertheless, he, who was so often wrapped in silence couldn't bear another second of it. He continued the conversation. "Why?"

"Usagi made her big break with Gundam Wing."

He frowned. Had the woman changed the subject?

"Because of you … and perhaps Duo. Duo might be the most popular amongst fans," she paused and glanced at him, lips curving at his faintly twitching right eye. 

"Yes, surprising, isn't it? Not really though. Even our world deals with daily stresses of simply being alive… Of course, we don't really have a war going on or anything remotely similar, but just the sight of Duo and his antics makes anybody want to smile," she paused again and chuckled at the fact that the twitching eye had expanded and was making his face spasm. 

"But nobody really expected you to be as huge of a success as you were. Even Usagi had trouble believing that you would morph into her most appealing character. You'd be surprised how many people wish for you to be real. You have quite a fan club." She smiled gingerly, purple hair catching a dying ray of sunlight. 

It was the strangest thing - hearing yourself being talked about as if a person truly knew everything about you and was your, well, creator, something even past your parents. All he could muster was a feeble, "Oh."

The woman looked down and muttered something to herself that even his trained ears couldn't pick up. Then, looking back up, while he fumbled to hide his curious expression, she smiled sheepishly. 

"I'm sorry for babbling. You want to talk to Usagi, no? She might still be in a daze from shock. I don't really think reality is registering for her… She was perfectly unmoved when I recited her injuries to her. But of course, you don't need to know that! You helped diagnose her-" she caught herself and blushed, realizing she was doing what she had apologized for again. 

"I'm sorry. I'll go now." Giggling as if she were still in junior high, she left. Usagi will be all right. She had the will to live, and that's all she really needed in this situation.

Closing the door softly behind her, she sighed at the sound of the click and leaned heavily against its cool and solid surface. Glad _something_ was definite in this world. "You have no idea how much _she _wanted you to be real. She's the true fan, Hiiro. Please realize that," she conversed with the shadows. 

"Talking to yourself again, Luna?"

She jumped. "Art! You _know _I'm high-strung!" And so a cat and cat chase ensued.

…………………

Silence again soaked into the room, and he fidgeted uncharacteristically. Letting go of a breath in a low hiss, he walked closer to the mesh of tubes. 

Blonde hair tangled and rested around her while dark lashes laid on pale cheeks tinted with blue. A childish nose seemed ready to wrinkle in disdain while soft lips parted delicately. A petite form was lost in insanely white sheets, but one, pale arm slipped out of the covers to rest at her side. He wouldn't go as far as to say she was beautiful, but grudgingly, he would have to admit that she wasn't ordinary. May that be in a good or bad sense.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and watched like a hawk for a reaction. No movement. If she were truly awake and faking sleep, she was very good at it.

"Um," he started clumsily. He cleared his throat again. "Um," he continued gracelessly. Finally, taking a deep breath, he spilled his thoughts out in syllables.

"I was awake that night while guarding you," he blurted. Again, he waited for an indignant cry but received none. 

"I … I watched you because…" The next confession stuck at his throat. He forced it to stumble out. "Because I was afraid. All the pilots, including myself, felt drawn to you, and after you swore that you were our creator, I was afraid of you. Because you would know everything about me. Everything … all the dark desires and emptiness. 

"And everything you did afterwards hinted to the fact that you _did _create everybody in this world along with the world itself, which made me even more afraid. Not long after, I started getting angry at you _because _you made me taste fear and … that's it," he finished lamely. His voice never rose or lowered, always a constant percussion beat of syllables, without inflections. 

What happened next made his jerk back. Yes, literally. 

"Hiiro, you're very eloquent." The blonde sat up and twisted a wince into a smile. He didn't know whether to take it as sarcasm or sincerity.

He fell back a step. "I-"

"Thank you for sharing that with me." She continued smiling softly. 

He nodded succinctly and walked towards the door.

"And could you help me lie down again? My pinched nerve, whatever that is, is killing me," she grinned through gritted teeth. Nodding, he walked back and supported her back with one hand. She relaxed. 

The next few words came out in a rush. "Are you okay?"

"I hurt all over, but otherwise I'm fine," she informed him cheerfully. He hesitated, but just barely. "You don't need to stay."

If his slight hesitation was that obvious to her, then perhaps she _was_ his artist.

He made his way to the door. Opening it, he was greeted by six cocked heads, each with one ear aimed at the door.

Six people simultaneously snapped their heads back in their proper, front facing positions and blinked innocently at him. He closed the door behind him menacingly. The sight of him massacring her friends would not improve the healing process. The click of the lock triggered Duo's squeak.

"Uh-oh…"

A mad clamber followed as six people rushed towards the nearest exit.

He smirked. Oh well, he knew where they all lived.

…………………

How was that? This chapter came rather easily … and it's not that short either! This length is considered good for me! Or maybe it's not as long as I think it is … it felt long when writing it! After all, it's the thought that counts, ne? ^^ Review please!

Notes:

1. This didn't come from me but from I Am Walrus-chan. I'm sorry to have taken it, but it was _too_ tempting. ^^


	12. The Suicidal Heroes

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, the many artists of Gundam Wing have not reached a consensus to give it to me as a Christmas gift so ... I still don't own Gundam Wing. However, if you will remember, dearest Naoko did give me rights to Sailor Moon! Yay! ^^

Editors: *blinks innocently* I don't know why you guys call me impatient! ^^''' Anyways, thank you's to Lady Artemis, AutumnHime, and Usagi Asia Maxwell. DevilsDarling and SerenityMoon almost seem to be wiped off planet earth ... come back and tell me what space is like! ^^'''

Warnings: 

Nothing really happens in this chapter … you can skip over this and have the story still make perfect sense… I think by now most of us have realized that this is leaning … at 79 degree angle, towards Usagi/Hiiro. I know, I hate myself too … :::sigh:::**.** One of these days, I'm am _going _to write something that isn't Usagi/Hiiro! But for now … :::sigh::: 

......…..…...…....

A week passed at a painfully crawling pace for Usagi. For Hiiro, the only problem was that the week contained too much of Duo. 

Artemis constantly found himself watching over Usagi with Luna, and the periods of times spent together oftentimes ended in cat-fights, with Usagi giggling at two livid faces that reddened at any comments on how they would make a nice couple. All in all, it was a week where many things were accomplished, from Usagi's pinched nerve and snapped ACL operations to Hiiro's revenge upon six eavesdroppers. 

What was the revenge? Giving each person the scare of his or her lives at unearthly hours in the night. In short, Hiiro was happy, all others wanted revenge for revenge, and the results were not at all pretty.

Quatre invited a doctor over and fairly ordered him to perform a successful operation or get a good lawyer to back him up in court. It was times like those that Usagi didn't know whether to like the attention or to wish that her creativity would go commit suicide. After all, once that little sucker was gone, the attention, along with the people attached to them, will vanish with it. Two birds with one stone. Talk about convenience.

The battle ended in stalemate, or so Hiiro deemed it. And despite her many protests and, in her not so humble opinion, reasonable and logical arguments, he held his ground. Talk about obstinate. However, one thing in the end was achieved and recognized - Usagi now knew that she hated arguing with Hiiro. Because he always won.

…………………

Quatre was very disappointed. Disappointed beyond reason, you might even say. Nothing was turning out as he had planned, meaning Hiiro and Usagi were not living in a happily ever world complete with frolicking, pink bunnies and pastel bubbles. 

And thus, Duo found himself a job: teasing Hiiro about Usagi to no end. Why Quatre wanted that was beyond him, but anything involving him putting his neck on the line was appealing. Besides, it would take care of his exercise for the week and put him yet another year ahead of the required amount for his age group.

There was an inner turmoil in Hiiro. To kill Duo or just maim him beyond recognition? The competition was tough. On one hand, killing Duo would get rid of that sickeningly happy face from his life forever, definitely a plus in his eyes. On the other, maiming him would put the idiot through all the suffering he had caused him, a far more fair and long-lasting punishment. Of course, he might still have to stand those knock-knock jokes.

His mind was currently joyfully debating this. Duo was on his case again about actually somewhat apologizing to somebody, a girl, no less. The braided moron was having the time of his life, cracking jokes and then laughing until he cried and had to fairly fall to the ground, clutching his stomach. The sight was revolting. 

The situation worsened when Artemis, the silver-haired man he was strongly distrustful of, and Quatre entered the scene. What happened next rivaled WWIII in the chaotic category and a documentary on the life-stories of salmon in hilarity. To him, at least.

"Hiiro and Usagi, sitting in a tree…"

Back to that stupid rhyme again. Sad that he had always figured Duo to be creative. What was worse was not that Quatre was hiding an oversized grin behind his hand but rather that he had acquired another tormenter - Artemis. He had a sneaky feeling that this guy would not support his cause or make a good acquaintance. Anyone short of being mute would not fit that category.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Artemis had joined in on the rhyme, and Hiiro had a strange urge to rip his head from his shoulders. The duo had added a tune to the already freakishly annoying rhyme and the result wasn't very easy on the ears. Or the ego. 

"Why don't you go bother Usagi?" he muttered darkly, not truly intending for the singing pair and snickering blonde to hear him. 

"Because Quatre is paying me to bother _you_!" Duo replied cheerily, acting as if it were the greatest honor on earth and in the colonies and grinning while Artemis laughed. 

He turned his attention to the angelic blonde and almost started snickering himself. Quatre's eyes were closed in an attempt to suppress anger, and his fists clenched and unclenched at his sides.

"_You weren't supposed to **tell** him that, you moron!" _

Hearing this sentence was very unsettling. Not only did kind, thoughtful Quatre call somebody a moron, but his voice had torn the façade of serenity off of itself and became grating with fury. 

He winced at the sound and edged his way away from the group, feeling with his hands on the wall for a door, any door. Ah yes! A doorknob! Slipping in, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to press his ear to the wood, listening intently for any sounds of pursuit. Quatre was shouting again. And Duo? Well, Duo wasn't laughing anymore.

He chuckled softly to himself and turned. Pink greeted all his senses, and a wide-eyed girl stared up at him, folded clothes just removed from a suitcase limp in her hands.

"Hiiro? What are you doing here?" She eyed him weirdly, straightening slightly. 

He felt like shooting himself.

………………….

The soft lead slid expertly over the textured paper. She sighed in contentment. Sure, it was nearing two in the morning, and she hadn't had coffee in four hours. Drawing and making_ him _come to life was all that mattered to her. 

Velvety brown for his hair, pale copper to dull the highlights. Wheat for Relena's hair, cerulean to add a sparkle to her eyes. Ebony for the space around them, palest blue for the stars, a hint of gray for metallic arms and legs, soft, gentle black for the atmosphere around him, olive green mixed with forest and jade, shadowed with cool gray for clothes, bleak black mixed with harsh gray to complete the outfit, pale tan with tints of peach to add reality to his complexion, and lemon yellow with hints of blue providing distant lights.

He was beautiful, as always. She flicked her wrist and added a flair to his hair. Harsh gray lines were drawn to create the sense of friction and heat. She traced over his tightly closed eyes and added tension to his hands, tightly grasping the throttle. The pale lands and dark seas of earth loomed up in a swirl of white, blue, and gray as she tried to create the sense of velvety blackness that Usagi was so good at. 

There! She sighed happily, emerald eyes scanning her handiwork. It wasn't bad. Perhaps not as entrancing as Setsuna's work or as emotional as Reeni's, and definitely not as delicate and self-confident as Usagi's, but it was something. After all, Reeni has been with Usagi for almost as long as the blonde had been publishing. Naturally, she would be excellent. And Setsuna? The government official who liked to participate in her cousin's mangas undoubtedly had some of the same artistic genes Usagi did. 

She sharpened her pencil happily and prepared for the next panel. 

…………………

Life was horrible. Life was terrible. Life was always insane with over one hundred reporters taking up permanent residence on your lawn. Minako breathed a sigh into the air-conditioned room and glanced outside. Poor Usa … if she gets back, she'll _never_ be able to hear the end of it. She shook her head with defiance. Not if, _when_. _Usa **is** going to come back_, she swore to herself.

"I _hate_ the press!" The blonde looked up, startled. She had been thinking the same thing, but the words had not passed her lips. 

"Hotaru," she finally acknowledged.

"Do you think we can get rid of them? Auntie says that we're running out of some types of food, and the reporters have found our supposedly secret back entrance."

Minako sighed loudly. "Don't you wish Setsuna were here?"

"I suppose…"

"I'm sure there is something in the law that forbids strangers to trample your lawn and backyard. Not to mention reporters have absolutely _no_ thought for nature! Look at that trash! Setsuna could probably find something to get rid of them," the blonde muttered wistfully.

"At least they haven't gotten permits yet." The dark-haired girl's violet highlights flashed in her eyes and then danced away. "So they're not in the house!" 

Minako arched an eyebrow. Hotaru's optimism was really annoying sometimes. Because, well, there are times when a person just wants to be depressed. And Hotaru obviously did not understand that.

"Fine, I'll try to get rid of them myself." She propped herself up and off the recliner, half-joking in her remark. Hotaru smiled and nodded encouragingly. So much for sarcasm.

The worst part came first -- opening the door. As the heavy mahogany inner door was opened, lightening sparks of cameras flashed through the air and the intricately decorated glass, outer door. A dull murmur greeted her ears that sharpened and became reality when she pushed past the glass. 

"Tsukino-san! Have you any news on Miss Usagi?" She saw colors when she closed her eyes.

"Tsukino-san! Where is Miss Usagi?" More cameras flashed as the reporters sprang up from their lawn chairs and dropped their bottled water.

"Tsukino-san, over here! Is this disappearance of Miss Usagi simply a hoax?" A mass of dizzying colors moved towards her.

"Tsukino-san-"

"_Be quiet!_" she shouted frustratedly. Her original intent had been to yell _shut up,_ but that would undoubtedly spread and cause more rumors, and heaven knows how many more this family can stand.

"Get _off _the lawn! And if you have anything that allows you to do otherwise, _let me see it_!" she challenged, sky blue eyes flashing like the edges of broken glass in sunlight.

She was surprised. Very. They actually listened to her! Of course, they were grumbling and muttering lord knows _what _words and phrases at her, but this didn't subtract from the joy of seeing _grass _again. Trampled, yes, but still grass.

"What do you know," a soft voice snaked up from behind her, and she jerked her head backwards. A small smile decorated her younger by two years cousin's face, and if she didn't know otherwise, she'd say it was smug.

......…...…......

Life was good. Life was exhilarating. And all this simply because he had felt like sharing a fragment of his soul with her. Usagi settled down in her bed and looked up to greet the sight of her leg in a cast. She frowned. _Only one more week_, she promised herself. Being the author of the manga you're in is a wonderful bonus – she can speed up her healing process.

A soft giggle shattered the silence of the room, and the girl sighed, smiling. Maybe there was hope after all.

Oh yes, life was _good_.

.....…...….......

"Um," the girl started uncertainly, still staring at him, unwilling to let go of her folded clothes. She turned slightly and relaxed from her previous position.

"I live here. What are _you_ doing here?" he demanded, trying to draw her attention from the fact that he had laughed. 

"I'm here to investigate the ultraviolet flash that was seen around here, and Quatre was kind enough to let me stay here," she answered with a slightly amused look on her face. She coughed. He narrowed his eyes. That cough sounded suspiciously like a giggle.

A bolt of fear struck him. What if ... what if she had heard Duo's stupid jokes and laughter? He'd never hear the end of it if she did ... he prayed for the first time in his life.

He grunted at her response and walked stiffly to the other door in the room, wanting an alternate exit. Besides, Duo's face might make him truly snap, and he didn't want Quatre to pay for _that _many damages. 

His eyes were greeted by ... his eyes. A mirror? He was in the bathroom. _So that's where this door led_, he thought dazedly.

Outside, he could hear somebody collapse in a fit of giggling. He groaned and walked back out. 

Hiding his face, he exited into the hall, the echo of giggling in his ears. Oh God. He pleaded that she wouldn't relay the incident to Duo ... or, he shuddered, Artemis. Relena was supposed to be nice, right? Pacifist ways? If she truly were, she would _not _tell Duo. Because the violence that would result, namely him slaughtering Duo, would not at all be peaceful.

But first, he wanted to shoot himself.

…………………

I cheated with this chapter. I gave you a bunch of useless stuff _and _lengthened it to five pages with my author's notes. : D Don't you guys love me? ^^ Please don't answer that. I'm not sure my ego can take any more, may that be stroking or trampling. ^^ Anyhow, I'm still trying to take up space! Of course, note that I didn't promise anything similar to five pages. I just promised that _a_ next chapter will come out sometime in the next half year. So this is all simply because of my altruistic personality! ^^

Review please! (This line is the first line on the fifth page. : D)


	13. The Clock is Ticking

Disclaimer: I now own Sailor Moon, Ranma, Fushigi Yuugi, and Ayashi no Ceres, and am currently attempting to add Gundam Wing to the collection. But so far it's not working. So, for now, I don't own Gundam Wing.

Just kidding! I don't own Gundam Wing, Sailor Moon, or any of the previously mentioned anime, but, again, who's to say that I don't own others? *cackle*

Editors: As always, you guys are amazing. ^^ Thank you's to AutumnHime, Usagi Asia Maxwell, and Lady Artemis for their insightful comments and uplifting compliments. ^^

Warning: There is only one point behind this chapter and somehow I'd made it last a whole chapter … haha. Beware.

……………………

There was something wrong. Something so wrong that neither Duo nor Artemis was getting a single kick out of teasing him. 

Explaining himself to Usagi lightened the load on his conscience, and heaven knows how much he needed to do that. But something _didn't _dissolve. Something that weighed with oppressing tenacity on his mind. Something that he wanted to hurt more than Duo, and that's saying a lot.

He _would_ ask Quatre, after swearing him to secrecy, but rumor had it that the formerly virtuous blonde had joined Duo in this battle. He _would_ ask Trowa, but the brunette had already affirmed his nonaligned status and refused to bestow help to either side, which included advice on which his pursuit of happiness relied. He didn't even _think_ about asking Wufei, and, truth be told, he didn't plan on it either. And Relena? Relena would probably laugh him all the way to Calcutta after that whole fiasco in her room. 

So he was left to brace himself against the dismal, blue-gray, bellowing waves and go speak to _her_. In person. The terror was so vast that he didn't have words to depict it.

Upon entering the room, he wordlessly thanked the deity whom he had just taken up praying to – Luna wasn't there. But Usagi was also better, less disoriented, which means the prospect of her forgetting this whole thing was ground down to nil. Or less.

The bed was empty this time, and for a trice, relief swamped him … until he saw that she was situated by the window. Somehow the fact that she could now move bothered him, and after that thought crossed his mind, he mentally beat himself up. He was afraid of a girl whom he shadowed by five inches? How low can he go?

"Hiiro!" she exclaimed, jerking back slightly with surprise as amusement lit up her features. He mentally sighed and pushed himself forward.

"I came to speak to you." He grimaced at the inept statement. She had the courtesy to not comment and instead beamed and nodded tolerantly.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, almost blinking bemusedly. He didn't know what he wanted to speak to her about … This clearly didn't bode well for the impending conversation.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind and then felt like slapping himself.

The pale-faced girl looked up at him, puzzled, and at length replied, "You have nothing to be sorry about."

Okay, now the conversation was in progress, what next? Ah yes, response, of course. He shook his head. Maybe Duo was right about him treating everything that should come naturally as if it were an intricate math problem, to be carried out with regimented steps. 

"I'm sorry for not believing you even though my intuition told me to."

"It was natural, but … yes, it was a little illogical."

Damn it. How could it come so effortlessly for her when he was stuck here planning out his syllables like an apprehensive general?

"So?" she pressed and then bowed her head in shame. "I'm sorry. I realize this is difficult for you."

"It's odd knowing that you know all about me," he grunted, shifting slightly from discomfort and indecision.

He looked up and instead of seeing her eyes, saw an averted face with knitted brows. Usagi's mouth twitched in a decisive manner before he had a chance to comment. Not that he was planning to anyway.

"Hiiro, I have something to tell you," she began slowly. "I-"

"Usa?" A vivid voice broke through the film of dreariness on their conversation as a flurry of colors burst into the offensively white room. Luna.

"Oh! Am I interrupting something?" She covered her mouth with delicate hands and started backing away from two pairs of blue-tinted eyes, both undergoing some type of thunderous emotion that she couldn't fathom, before changing her mind and progressing again into the room. "This is urgent, Usagi. I don't think you would want to wait," she whispered faintly, not meeting her protégé's eyes. 

Usagi blinked at the woman numbly. The lack of movement the past two weeks was evidently also slowing her mind. She pursed her lips and glanced up at the man beside her, not directly though, for fear of blushing.

"Hiiro? Anything else?"

He shook his head, swept a brief gaze over Luna, and walked out of the room.

The silence was broken by an impatient, "What is it?" Another head poked into the room and pale blue eyes stared at her with gravity.

"We need to talk, Usa." 

Artemis was here, too? Something _bad_ is going to happen soon … She braced herself and advanced, blindly casting herself into the storm.

…………………

She was hopelessly, dreadfully lost. Defying an urge to turn that into a melodramatic poem, lamenting her love life, or lack thereof, and crafting metaphors to connect the general sense of loss, Relena batted her hair away from her face and looked up. Bad, _bad_ idea.

A swell of nausea swept past her with such concentration that she stumbled towards the wall. Who knew this house had such a high ceiling? And that such a high ceiling would be decorated with such a realistic heaven that it made people swoon from dizziness? But most importantly, who was willing to brave over seventy meters up into thin air just to paint a churn of blue? Correction, who was moronic enough to do so? Or perhaps the question is: just how much money did Quatre _have_?

Putting a hand subtly on the wall, just to prove that she wasn't hallucinating, Relena scolded herself. _You should be used to this! For goodness sake, Relena! Your house is as similar as they get to this!_

Her optimism was floundering, and she herself wasn't willing to save it. Seeing Hiiro a week ago was nice. No, it was beyond nice. She hated herself for acquiring such a large vocabulary and then completely forgetting it when not in her office and instead adopting one of a fourth-grader. Shaking her head, she attempted to distract herself, a technique that had been used too often for comfort.

An amused smile covered her face as she thought back to the circumstances under which Hiiro and she met. A frown quickly replaced it. 

For the past week, since she had gotten here, jetlag assailed her to the point where she was ordering breakfast at midnight and dreaming at noon. So, instead of going through all the trouble of leaving her room and then perhaps falling asleep in the halls, she had created a way to contact the Manguanacs when needed. She forced down a giggle. Even for the sake of their Master Quatre, not many were happy about waking up at two in the morning and finding themselves on a mission to procure chocolate ice cream.

By now, the drowsiness is fading, and her daily routine had somewhat been set straight. Or as straight as it's probably going to get before she is jetted off to Paris or Lord know where else. So she was making her way back to civilization … until she got lost. After that, she had actually had the luck to find her way again … and then promptly gotten lost _again. _Grumbling in exasperation, she scowled up at the ceiling with closed eyes. Some being up there has _got_ to be laughing at her…

Her break was over, and the blonde began trekking towards what she assumed to be the front door until she faced a dead end – the door of her room. And just as she was about to scream out loud in aggravation, the door next to it opened to reveal one Perfect Soldier. Oh yes, somebody was definitely laughing up there.

…………………

"So what's the big deal?" she began restlessly, trying to lighten up the atmosphere and shoo away her fears.

"Usa, since you're beginning to recover, and Artemis and I _do_ have lives back home-"

"Are you guys leaving? But I'm sure our world can live without you for a few more days!" the blonde cried, secretly elated that that was all that the news was about … and then kicking herself for being so selfish. 

"Usagi, a day here is a week in our world. Luna and I have been here for over three months, and you have been here for almost half a year."

She didn't know how to respond to that, and her brain was moving sluggishly. So she didn't answer.

"Art and I have come here to take you back…"

"Back?" she heard herself whisper. One part of her was laughing for joy – she'll be able to hear Shingo burp out the ABCs again! She'll be able to spend half of the Tsukino fortune shopping with Minako again! She'll be able to yell at Setsuna for being so logical again! She'll be able to … continue her manga again. And the other part of her? The other part didn't know _what_ to think.

"Now, Usagi, I know how much you care for … _him, _but truly, he's a fictional character! I myself have been swept away in this whole charade and almost believed him to be real but … reality is reality," her mentor finished with resolve.

She looked down, missing Artemis's stunned and then riled expression. Her senses had almost shut down but through them crept Art's hiss of, "She's in love with one of them? Who is it? Why do I _never _get let in on the juicy stuff?" and then a dim smack, that probably would have been loud, ricocheting off of the walls, followed by a snarl courtesy of Luna.

"Give me one month by Gundam time to straighten this out," she finally stated as her senses cleared.

"But Usa, dear, you're only going to hurt yourself more!" Luna made a move to get closer to her, but the blonde backed away stiffly.

"One month," she repeated.

Luna sighed and turned to her companion, shrugging ever so slightly, nodded, and dragged the still slightly wound up at being left out Art back out the door. 

Usagi slumped and then jerked back up when Luna's head popped back into the room.

"We'll be leaving tomorrow then, Usagi. You have one month from then…" the woman stopped and then looked away indecisively. "Don't get too attached, Usagi," she quickly whispered before scampering back out the door and proceeding to drag Artemis down the hall. 

One month … to show him that he was the world to her? One month to decide her fate from now on? One thing was for sure – she needed to do some serious thinking. Starting now.

…………………

A sigh broke through the still air, and Kenji looked up from his paper. If he had a penny for every sigh that has flown by this household for the last half-year, he'd be rich by now. Okay, maybe not. Maybe he'd simply be rolling in pennies. 

Motoki, the questionable policeman had left urgently, muttering something about an important clue that might lead to the recovery of Usagi. Three months have passed since then and still no news. No news of the recovery of his darling Usagi, the baby of the family.

Mamoru had to apologetically leave for the sake of business and promised to visit once or twice a week, trying to console the family. The blow had been harsh and instead of healing quickly, had loitered with wicked doggedness. 

Yukari had become listless the past month, anything but her usual self, full of a vitality that Usagi had somewhat inherited. He worried for his mother-in-law. Up until a month ago, she had the been the personification of the family's morale.

Ikuko, his dear wife, was having horrible nightmares. Perhaps not nightmares, – she was having dreams of Usagi coming back – but in the morning she was being hammered with reality. Every night, by his side, she was tossing and turning and muttering darkly to herself that the dream wasn't real, but every morning, she came out of the bathroom with puffy eyes and a snuffly nose, giving away that she _had_ thought the dream to be tangible.

Usagi's cousins had been devastated – Minako and Hotaru being the ones who were affected the most. Both had more than enough fame to let their jobs go to a virtual standstill for the last half year, but just recently a resignation seem to appear in both girls' eyes. 

Ami had phoned incessantly with worried questions on news, and Setsuna had been searching (and hacking) extensively after work for any sort of lead, occasionally even dabbing into paranormal sites out of frustration. 

But perhaps no one was hit harder than Shingo, his darling daughter's older brother. The man now in his early twenties had a strong belief that Usagi would come back, and in his personal opinion, suffered more because of it. Reality was reality, and nothing could alter it.

And so a new question had encroached upon the household – when should the funeral be held?

…………………

The rabbit had gone Hiiro-hunting and thus far with no success. By now, she was already gnashing her teeth in frustration but refrained from her previous need to just break down and cry. Tears were idiotic, and there was nothing more to say about them. 

She finally struck gold when she had thought she had given up. Walking to her room, she distinguished voices from down the dead-end hallway. One was Hiiro's … but other than Luna, who's voice she could recognize from five miles away, and herself, there were no females in the house … except perhaps the maids, but even they rarely appeared long enough to chat. So who…

Peeking around the corner, she glimpsed a flash of golden hair. Her heart rose to her throat as one name darted through her mind – Relena.

……………………

Hahaha … this chapter is so boring! ^^''' Oh well, I typed all this in one sitting – my wrists hurt, and I'm bored beyond reason (which says something about the interestingness of this chapter). Review please!

**NOTES:**

When I revised the previous chapters, I revised a lot of things, and those who have not just recently started reading are, if not already, going to be confused out of their minds. Here are the major changes:

1. The ages don't truly work out no matter how I change Usagi's … so, I'm going to change Hiiro's and alter the manga slightly. Usagi is still nineteen and Hiiro will now be twenty. Okay? Okay. I'll write it into a chapter somewhere in case somebody doesn't read this.

2. Setsuna, a government official is one of the illustrious cousins of Usagi which include actress Minako Aino, playwright Ami Mizuno, and supermodel Hotaru who is currently being home-schooled. You didn't need to know that last bit… 

3. Usagi's grandmother's name has been changed to Yukari.

4. And for those who were confused in the first place – Artemis changed to his human form and posed as Motoki. I have had questions about that in the reviews.


	14. Rolling the Dice

Disclaimer: Guess what? The writers and artists of Gundam Wing have finally decided to let me have rights to it! And Naoko still hasn't banned Sailor Moon from me yet! So I own both! Okay, now let's return to reality.

Editors: To AutumnHime, DevilsDarling, Usagi Asia Maxwell, and Lady Artemis! Thanks by the bunches!

…………………

"Usagi, darling, promise me you won't fall in love here." Her private publisher, second mother, Luna had whispered in her ear right before Art and she had left. Her warm breath had tickled her ear delicately and the dark, almost wild, roses scent had touched her nose one last time before the woman let her out of her embrace and backed away. Despite the pleasant weather of that day and Luna's affectionate arms, Usagi had felt a surge of wintry coldness stab through her at breakneck speed after that half plead half command, and she had the inclination to inquire, "But what if I already have?"

The fair-headed artist was beyond caring now. "Seeing Relena has been more than a shock" would be the greatest understatement of the millenium, but by then she had wanted to forsake all reason and plunk all her problems onto somebody else. Confronting Relena was out of question.

Luna had been her first trace of hope, but before she could spill her heart out in intermittent drops, a stream of clear water was splattering on silver metal, and Luna was gone with a wave and encouraging smile. Her second thought had been to go to Quatre, the compassionate one of the group, but, seeing just how turbulent his mental wellbeing was from all this matchmaking nonsense, she hardly dared to approach him anymore. 

Plan C? There was no Plan C. Or rather, Plan C was to cope with it herself. She barely knew Trowa, neither as a character nor a person. Wufei and Duo were both one hundred and fifteen percent out of the question as was Hiiro. Relena didn't even cross her mind.

And she knew each minute this bottling up of emotions endured was a minute off of her life. 

…………………

"Why isn't Hiiro here?" had been the first thing out of the braided blockhead's mouth, but sadly, he knew it would not be the last.

He glared at him. That shut him up but unfortunately, not for long. 

"Now you understand why I'm forever threatening him, Winner," Wufei grinned complacently, knowing _somebody _was not going to be protected the next time his katana saw light.

"Why are we here?" Trowa questioned, looking out at the others from his position against a wall blanketed with shadow.

"We are here to discuss Hiiro."

Before Duo could stop himself, a question burst out. "So why isn't he here?" He threw his hands over his mouth and looked, wide-eyed at Quatre's slight scowl. Duo was very scared. Duo didn't know how to deal with a seething Quatre because a seething Quatre didn't stop at simply chasing him -- a seething Quatre plotted revenge.

By now Wufei was feeling frustratingly left out. Scaring the braided baka was his job. So, and he himself was amazed out of his wits of this, he came to Duo's rescue. Sort of.

"You baka! Yui isn't supposed to hear what we have to say about him!" Duo stuck out his tongue and automatically started to run. Wufei pursued. Being chased by him was nowhere as bad as what Quatre planned for the idiot. And it would keep the braided baka out of trouble. Somewhat. But it didn't work. 

Before he knew what was happening, Quatre had grabbed both of their collars and plopped them onto the couch, glowering to underscore his point. By now Wufei was feeling a tendril of fear crawl up his spine. Trowa was beyond amused.

"This meeting involves all of us to be present," Quatre stated firmly. Duo refrained from commenting, "Except Hiiro."

"Now," the blonde boy paused to smile sweetly at his audience. "I'm sure we have all realized that something is brewing between our Hiiro and Usagi. Need I say more? The question is: what can we do to push him along? Suggestions anybody?"

Duo took it as his cue to speak. "We could watch romance movies and see how those people get together!"

"I am _not _watching romance movies," Wufei growled, arms crossed stubbornly over his chest.

Quatre, however, was beaming at Duo. Wufei's heart sank. "That's a great idea! I'll call my sisters and ask them to recommend some."

"Why don't you just call your sisters and ask them for advice?" Trowa pointed out.

Quatre administered his now ever so familiar glare. "I think Duo's plan is fine."

Wufei and Duo shared a smirk as Trowa blinked and edged away ever so slowly from the frowning blonde. They had some gloating to do when this meeting was over.

…………………

"Hiiro?" she called, knocking lightly on his door. "Hiiro? Are you in there?"

"No, I'm behind you."

Usagi screamed _and_ jumped five feet into the air, hair frazzled and eyes widening to the impossible size of saucers.

Spinning around, she put her hands on her hips and glared at the vaguely but enough to get on her nerves smirking man. "Don't you _ever _do that again, Hiiro Yui!" she ordered, shaking a pointer finger at him with vigor. 

"And what would you do to stop me?" he continued the banter, smirking like there was no tomorrow.

The blonde seemed to mull over this inquiry and right before he was about to assert his victory, a malicious grin spread over her face. "I'll make you fall in love with Duo."

His blood ran cold. 

"I believe you have some serious apologizing to do now, Yui?" she yawned airily, nose stuck up in the air snobbishly as she waited.

He pushed past her into his room, smirking to himself as she stumbled back with an offended cry. 

"Hiiro!" she whined babyishly, sulking at his smug face. "That was a foul!"

"Life's tough, get a helmet," he advised before swinging the door close in front of her dumbfounded and enraged eyes. [1]

A pause followed in which he was sure Usagi was collecting her wits before a thunderous series of banging attacked his door. He felt sorry for the door.

"Hiiro! Your life's going to be hell from now on!" the girl yelled sullenly after the banging subsided. 

Okay now he felt sorry for himself. He opened the door … and Usagi tumbled back with a startled yelp. Instinctively, he caught her.

How did this happen? He had just made the situation worse.

She looked up at him, cheeks flushed, and then … promptly stuck out her tongue.

"You do _not_ open the door when somebody is leaning against it!" she instructed, pushing out of his embrace. Somewhere in the back of his mind, hurt registered.

He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "How was I supposed to know you were leaning against the door?"

Silence met his question as the blonde stared crossly at him, cheeks still flushed though from anger or embarrassment, he couldn't tell. 

She opted to just throw her hands up in the air and glare at him. It didn't have the effect she wanted it to – he looked like he wanted to laugh at her.

…………………

"Do we _have _to watch it again?" By now the whining wasn't only coming from Duo but Wufei as well. 

Quatre frowned at him. "Until you guys learn how to complete this mission, we are rewinding and re-watching it."

"What's not to get? We just create a series of awkward situations for them to be in, and they'll soon realize that they're each other's soul mates." Duo rolled his eyes. "Besides, we're getting inspiration from _Beauty and the Beast?_ Would this be assuming that Hiiro is like the Beast? Boy are you trouble when I tell Hiiro!" the braided boy crowed, failing to see an unearthly glimmer in Quatre's eyes.

"Prepare to run, Maxwell," Wufei recommended, staring at Quatre crushing the tape's box in this hands.

Duo obeyed. Quatre pursued. Wufei and Trowa sat down to re-watch the movie. Havoc ensued.

…………………

"Hiiro, I'm challenging you to another battle," her voice broke through the silence with the intensity of an arrow. The atmosphere changed from one of light teasing to one of strict business.

He stared at her as if she had grown a few extra appendages, and his thoughts fell through his lips before he could stop them. "If you think you're going to go out there and again fall from one thousand and five hundred miles up, you're more insane than I thought."

She glanced up at him, surprise registering on her features before slowly replying, "What I choose to do is none of your business."

"Unless I'm required to participate in it," he added pointedly.

"Do you accept or decline?" Her cerulean eyes acquired a metallic coating of steel as she assessed him.

Looking back up at her, he narrowed his eyes. "Decline."

"Do you accept or decline?" she repeated, eyes hardening.

A strong power forced open his mouth and before he knew it, two words tumbled out. "I accept." His eyes burned with a livid fire. "You forced me to!"

"Is Hiiro Yui one to back out of something that he has accepted?" she taunted desperately. She needed him to accept this challenge.

Bowing his head, he looked away again. His silence indicated his answer clearly to her.

"Stakes?" he finally questioned, looking up. Her face broke out into a grin.

The joy of getting him to agree, even if it were through manipulative means, was vast, but even it didn't stay for long. The butterflies shooed away by that joy now returned and were waging war in her stomach. She blushed and looked away.

"If you win, you pick what you get, but if I win…" she trailed off timidly, reddening to the shade of maroon.

_She looks like she's going to explode, _his mind observed laughingly as he impatiently waited for the end of the sentence.

……………………

"For the thousandth time, Winner, we are anything but those little talking … _silverware_. And are _not_ living in an enchanted castle where we can actually magick things to happen!" Quatre held his hand up for silence but the Chinese pilot continued anyway. "And most importantly, Yui and that onna are _not _in love."

"Symbolism, Wufei, symbolism. We don't _have _to magick things in order to create situations where they would _have _to be together! I thought you were a scholar." Quatre looked a little ticked off.

Wufei bristled at the last statement, but settled for staring angrily at the blonde. He mentally shook his head. How did he ever assume Winner was the ultimate wuss-boy? With that history of insanity, nobody should be considered a wimp.

"Do you want me to rewind it again?" Duo asked shyly.

"Do you guys understand now?"

"Make Hiiro and Usagi fall in love by placing them in awkward situations," all three recited obediently. Quatre nodded appreciatively.

"Thank you. Let this mission commence then." He smiled kindly, seemingly back to his old self again, but none of the three assembled in front of him were fooled until further proof arrived.

…………………..

She gulped and peeked up at him before turning her eyes to the carpet with renewed interest. Gee what a nice pattern…

"And if you win?" he finally ran out of patience and urged her onwards.

"If I win, um, I'd like, um." Hiiro noted that she was way past any reasonable shade of red.

"If I win … If I win, I would like for you to be my first kiss." Her cheeks were aflame as she bowed her head.

He was beyond stunned. So flabbergasted that it didn't even occur to him to feel flattered. He uttered the first thing that came to mind, "Don't regret it, okay?"

……………………

Tada! Aren't you guys proud of me? I update on a regular basis now! ^^

Excerpt from Angelight's Dictionary of Common Phrases – "regular basis [ra'gueler ba'sis] adj. n. 1. In such a succession that no two actions are separated by more than one month. Pl. regular basis's" (Angelight, 270).

Yikes! There's so much inspiration behind this story! It's like I can't run out of ideas or something … I wish all my fics were like that! *sniffle* Not fair. Anyhow, review please!

**Notes:**

1. This is from Boy Meet's World (the line).


	15. Confessions and the Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon…::sigh::

Editors: Thank you! Again! Lol … ::sigh:: I'm kind of depressed … hmm … well anyhow. Thanks to Lady Artemis, Usagi Asia Maxwell, and Autumn Hime.

………………….

Okay, breath Hiiro, breath, he instructed himself as Usagi walked into Quatre's room, intending to inform the others of their little bet. Breathing didn't help. Nothing helped get rid of the highly uneasy feeling, the same type of feeling that he experienced every time a mission was going awry. He believed it was termed worry?

Striding not so confidently into the orange-themed room, he saw what he had never thought would happen before the earth became extinct – a meek Duo. If that wasn't enough to walk back out of the room in a daze, the next sight decided it – Wufei and Trowa appeared to be cowering from the genially chatting blonde pilot. He walked out of the room, muttering oddities under his breath. But that didn't stop him from eavesdropping.

He heard a quiet, "Are you sure about this?" from Quatre followed by a, "Well, I believe I have the equipment."

Hmmm … so Usagi was going to use Sandrock this time? He pressed his ear to the door again before instantly jerking back as Quatre … roared? Okay … he didn't have time to process the thought before Duo ran, screaming his head off, past him and down the hall. Usagi walked calmly out, followed by Quatre carrying a rectangular box.

At his questioning look, Usagi tranquilly said, "Duo commented that Quatre's matchmaking schemes were all useless."

The obvious answer came to mind – "Oh."

"We can do this in the den, if you want, Hiiro," she continued lightly, nodding at the box in Quatre's hands.

He looked at her incredulously. "You want to do a Gundam battle in Quatre's den?" _And Quatre is okay with this? _he had wanted to add, but she was giggling at him.

"Idiot, this is a battle of wits," she teased lightly. 

He felt his eyes narrow and saw her shrink back slightly from the fire that was undoubtedly burning in them. "You made me worry for this?" he growled out.

She gulped and chuckled nervously.

"Uh, why don't we get started?" Quatre interrupted quickly. 

"What game?"

"Chess."

"Do you even know how to play chess?" This time, he had to admit, he had gone too far. Funny, he had never had a big mouth before. 

"Very funny, Hiiro Yui. Mark my words, I'm getting rid of that sense of humor of yours when I get the chance!" _In one month,_ her mind added softly.

…………………

Relena heaved a sigh as she sat down. Who was this girl that Hiiro seemed to be confused and oddly infatuated with? A pang of bitterness and what jealousy was described to be shot through her. She … was jealous? Of the girl? Obviously Quatre had already filled her in about the whole writer of the manga story but … was it true she was only written about by some girl maybe even younger than she was? Was her life predetermined or soon to be by this girl? Was there no purpose for her anymore?

Her honey strands of hair whirled around as she shook her head quickly. She mustn't let these unproven theories get to her. The girl could simply by lying after all. But … she seemed so genuine too. Relena sighed again. She was arguing with herself again – one of the first signs of insanity. 

What did he think of her now? She had known the girl, ah, Usagi, had been around the corner and purposely adjusted to the new piece of information. Originally, she was simply going to talk to the person she had fallen in love at first sight with … but in the end, she confessed her feelings. The conversation had went a little something like this:

"Hiiro! Boy am I glad to have found you!"

He had turned around and looked defiantly into her eyes as she tried to refrain from giggling. 

"I really have no idea how to find my way around this mansion of Quatre's! It took forever to understand the Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, and Calcutta ones … this is too much!"

"Hn."

"So how are you?"

"Fine."

"Hiiro … do you hate me?"

He had stuttered a bit at this question. "No."

"Do you like Usagi more?"

"I don't know." This answer had came out easily and instantly.

"Hiiro … ever since I met you on that beach … Hiiro … I love you! I love you despite your lack of emotions and cool exterior! In fact, that's what I love about you! You're … you're a dream come true!"

"Are you forcing me into this relationship?"

"N-no! I simply … I'll make you fall in love with me!" she had blurted out and quickly pressed her lips to his. When she had pulled away, he remained unmoved, stiff and unrelenting.

A long silence had followed as she bowed her head in embarrassment before his quiet voice intoned, "It's almost time for lunch. I know the way to the dining room."

__

Did he hate her? She knew she wouldn't be able to stand it if he did. And if that admirer of hers who stated that the stars were shining more brightly because of her was true … well, maybe earth could live with the stars being a little dimmer.

…………………

"Um, so." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Can anybody teach me how to play chess?"

"Usagi!" Quatre scolded. "You called the terms and you didn't even know how to play chess?!"

"Well it had to be as fair as I could make it … I mean, unless Hiiro would like to engage in a painting contest … which is my forte."

"Trivia maybe?" Trowa suggested.

Usagi shrugged. Hiiro nodded his consent.

"I'll go get some questions ready," Quatre jumped up quickly and shot a meaningful look to the other three of his comrades. "Why don't you guys show me some places where I can get them?"

Trowa and Wufei both nodded, but Duo, being his usual clueless self cheerfully said, "I'm sure you two won't need me!"

"Yes we will," Wufei hinted.

"No it's okay!" had been the cheerful response.

"Yes we will!" Quatre growled.

Duo blinked confusedly. Trowa had been the one to administer the proper action – he tugged Duo by the ear out of the room, motioning for the other two to follow him.

Hiiro raised an eyebrow towards the only other person in the room. Usagi shrugged.

…………………

She had heard about the contest and didn't know what to think … or rather what to do. What _to _do? Hiiro didn't seem likely to return her feelings … until she makes him fall in love with her. Perhaps she should go watch the contest? Perhaps not? Or administer eeny meeny minie moe? Relena flopped down onto her bed in annoyance.

…………………

An awkward silence had followed after the four more talkative presences in the room left. Usagi shifted uncomfortably. 

"So, uh, how's Relena?"

"Fine." The stoic answer echoed sullenly in the room. 

She sighed in annoyance. He obviously wasn't going to give her any more information, and she was more than a little curious about the outcome of their last conversation. How did Hiiro truly feel about what Relena had confessed and then done?

His voice shattered her train of thought this time. "What had led you to call this challenge?"

"I, uh … do you find pleasure in making me uncomfortable, or are you just dense?" she ranted, pushing her chair back and standing up angrily.

"You created me. Answer it yourself."

She was speechless. "I'm sorry," she mumbled and sat back down slowly. "I … I think I'm in love with you Hiiro."

Nothing greeted her confession except her mind's dull rambling consisting of, "Think, Usagi? _Think?_ _You_ must be dense if you truly only think you're in love with him!"

"Don't worry about it, Hiiro," she finally murmured. "Just think about it, if you will. You don't have to let it affect your actions and words."

"Got them!" Duo cried happily as he skipped into the room, but even he could feel the depression of the ambiance. "What's up?" he questioned quietly as he slowed to a stop.

The odangoed girl sitting opposite of Hiiro shook her head slowly and put on a smile. "Nothing, Duo. Let's start, shall we?"

…………………

Hiiro's map would undoubtedly be much more effective had she been able to read it. Damn it! She's lost again. What is up with her life?

Turning the map at an angle, she sighed and tried to decode it. What were those little blue squiggles? And the red triangles? It looked like the drawing of some kindergartner, for goodness sake! Lord have mercy…

…………………

"Do you honestly believe this is a fair contest?" Trowa questioned doubtfully. Hiiro was full of facts, random or not due to that keen mind of his, trained and exercised hourly by Dr. J. Usagi … umm … she's an artist.

"I resent that! I'll have you know that I led my school's trivia team to victory!"

"If you're sure…"

"Of course I am!" she snapped, glaring at him. 

"Okay then. First person to reach ten points. Each question is a point. If one person doesn't know, the other will have a shot at the point. Here we go … Hiiro, you first," Quatre instructed rapidly.

Duo unfolded a sheet of paper and blinked bemusedly at the question. "What famous woman said, 'I have always had a dread of becoming a passenger in life'?"

The answer came rapidly. "Queen Margret the second of Denmark."

"Good luck, Usagi," Duo whispered to the blonde before she pegged him with a glare. "I knew that too!" she exclaimed indignantly.

"Has anybody wondered _why _these questions are all related to Usagi's world and Hiiro still knows the answers?"

All eyes turned to the girl in the room. "Don't worry! I got rid of allthe complications!"

…………………

Dining room 1A? Dining room 1B? Is there is a dining room 2B?! Boy was she ever lost. Relena banged her head against the wall. How was she going to find them? A random thought flitted through her mind – ow…

…………………

"Who was Annie Edson Taylor?" Duo fired the next question towards Usagi.

"One October twenty-fourth of 1901, she began a famous stunt tradition by going over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel. After tumbling 175 feet Taylor emerges from her leather harness and cushion-lined barrel shaken but unhurt."

The braided boy let go of a low whistle as Quatre stared, mouth hanging.

"Hiiro, this famous Chinese philosopher believed in the usefulness of nothingness. For example, a house is useless without windows or a door. Who is he?"

"Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism."

"Oh brother…"

…………………

Okay, so the ending place was a little odd, but I'm tired. Again. **-_- **High school seems to be a major jump from middle school … but I'm told that I'm lucky I'm not a Junior yet. Lol. -_- 

Note the twist from chess? It wasn't planned. ^_~ Anyhow, review, please!


	16. Fame

Disclaimer: There's a lot to be said about Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon, and "I own them" is not one of them.

As always, thanks to my editors, Autumn Hime, Lady Artemis, Usagi Asia Maxwell, and DevilsDarling for … being on the receiving end of these … words. Lol. Doesn't that just make you pity them so much? ^_~

Warning: Pointless and nonsensical humor ahead. No major developments.

…………………

"Okay, Hiiro. Who said 'When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better'?" Duo sighed tiredly as he gulped at the water bottle by his side. His voice came out hoarse. 

Hiiro suddenly looked up. "Relena."

Duo managed enough voice to utter a wide-eyed, "WHAT?!"

Quatre choked on cookie he had been munching on, and Wufei looked as if he had just swallowed something that didn't taste quite right.

"Umm…"

"No, he means she's here," Trowa finally explained. All eyes turned to the blonde figure at the door and Usagi sighed with relief. 

…………………

The game dragged onwards. Loser had to lose by three questions, and neither of the two combatants seemed ready to give up any time soon. Duo's voice had long since gone hoarse and, reluctantly, Wufei had taken over. The braided boy dozed near the sofa, drawing many annoyed glares from all but the two players.

Relena had appeared about twenty minutes ago, slightly miffed to find that she had missed over half of the game. Quatre promised to redraw her a legible map after the wager. 

Wufei was beginning to look distinctly exasperated at the rapid-fire answers he received, sometimes even before finishing a question. Finally, it was Hiiro's turn again and the scores stood at 19:20, Usagi's favor.

"What commission does an Avon Lady average?" He blinked and read over the question again, scowling. What the heck was an Avon Lady?!

Quatre blinked. For once, no quick answer followed the question. If he didn't know better, he'd say that was confusion written on one Perfect Soldier's face…

"What's an Avon Lady?" Usagi finally piped up, nose wrinkling slightly. Nobody answered the question.

"Hn."

"Is that an 'I don't know', Yui?"

Hiiro scowled. "Hn."

"Usagi?"

She shrugged, dumbfounded.

"Okay. Forty percent. Your turn, woman." _Please get this right, please get this right, _he begged to whatever deity happened to be listening at that time. 

"Whose number one books include Daddy, Fine Things, Jewels, and Wanderlust?" 

Usagi's cerulean eyes blinked confusedly at him, and his heart sank. So much for a quick and decisive ending…

"I don't read books like that…"

"Hiiro?"

He shot the Chinese man a dark look. "What, you think I do?"

"Danielle Steel."

Wufei sighed to himself. The only good thing that came out of this whole charade was that Maxwell would not be able to talk for at least two days…

__

…………………

"When is the funeral?" Minako asked softly to Hotaru, who had just gotten off of the phone with their aunt. Makoto, sitting by her, gazed towards the violet-haired teen as well. 

Hotaru shot her a confused look. "Auntie told us that it was postponed again … something about Luna warning her to wait another while…"

"That's definitely odd."

"You're telling me," Makoto piped up. 

Hotaru frowned. "I don't understand why they're allowing this to be dragged out for so long. It's bad enough that the media is carrying this on and on but … must they keep reminding us that she's … she's gone?"

"The media won't drop it until we do," Minako sighed sensibly.

"I know this must sound horribly selfish … but I really want her to look at my recent sketches … she's the only person whose advice I can really trust…"

Minako smiled wistfully. "She was so talented, wasn't she…?"

…………………

The role of the interrogator had switched to Quatre after Wufei slammed the sheets of paper down and refused to open his mouth again. The blonde boy sighed and glanced up at the clock. The hands displayed 12:37. He silently wondered when the nightmare was going to end. From the looks of the two glaring people in front of him, he easily surmised – not soon. 

"Hiiro, this artist has won numerous awards, including Best New Artist of the year 1997 and the humor and angst divisions of the Randall Awards. This person's current project depicts a world that had fallen into a war of machines."

Silence again filled the room as Hiiro frowned. Usagi blinked bemusedly to herself as Wufei slammed a hand over a just woken up Duo's mouth.

"Ummmphee ummpheeumph!" came out urgently as Duo's eyes widened at the utterly clueless look on his best friend's face. He sighed and shot a look at Wufei, indicating that the Chinese could let go of his mouth. Rolling his eyes, he glared ahead when Wufei didn't take notice of twin violet eyes burning holes through his constantly scowling face. 

"Your answer, Hiiro?" Quatre prompted after a lengthy silence. 

"Hn."

Quatre sighed at the ambiguous response. "Usagi? You?"

The blonde fought down a laugh and innocently replied, "Can you repeat the question, Quatre?"

"This artist has won numerous awards, including Best New Artist of the year 1997 and the humor and angst divisions of the Randall Awards. This person's current project depicts a world that had fallen into a war of machines."

She shot Hiiro a triumphant smile and uttered two simple words. "Usagi Tsukino."

Several people's jaws dropped as Wufei's hand finally fell from Duo's face. The braided pilot grinned smugly, turning his nose upwards.

"I told you guys! But would you listen? Nooooooo-"

Relena shot him a silent glance. "Duo, you told us, and I quote, 'Ummmphee ummpheeumph'" she deadpanned.

The gloating boy scowled, snapping a flippant, "That's what it sounds like in Yiddish." 

………………..

"Any luck?"

Luna sighed, barely glancing up at the man in front of her. "I convinced them to wait a bit longer before the funeral … but I'm not sure how much longer they can stand all this media coverage. It's starting to grate on even MY nerves and I'M not the one with reporters camped out on MY front lawn!!"

Artemis blinked. "So what now?"

She blinked tiredly up at him and smiled faintly. "I was just going to ask you that…"

…………………

"Good! You're now two points ahead, Usagi. Answer this next question correctly, and the game is over!" Quatre cried happily. "Thank God," he added as an afterthought.

"Okay … here goes: this person suffered amnesia at age six and had never regained the memories lost. Said person had, afterwards, helped achieve peace and stability in the political structure of today and-"

Usagi interrupted before Quatre even finished reciting the question. "Hiiro Yui."

The blonde pilot blinked at her before looking back down at the sheet of paper in his hands. "Correct," he uttered softly.

Wufei stood up to stretch. "What was at stake?" Relena asked curiously.

"Ah … ummm…" Usagi stuttered. She shot the other girl an embarrassed smile. 

Hiiro stood up, ignoring the curious and expectant looks he received and stared at the girl opposite of him. "It's late. We'll discuss it tomorrow."

Usagi gulped. "Okay," she squeaked and watched him walk out of the room. 

Duo, having just recently woken up after another short catnap, looked back and forth between Usagi and Hiiro, questions forming in his mind. "A-" His voice came out as a croak, and he sighed mentally. _I miss my voice…stupid Hiiro. He could have at least ended this sooner…_

"Usagi?" Quatre prompted."

"Umm … tomorrow, okay?" she stuttered out rapidly and dashed out of the room before another word could be uttered.

Relena looked after her, blinking at the open door. And this was the girl who had her future in her hands? Lord have mercy…

Meanwhile, Duo coaxed his voice to utter a short, "Wu-man" and watched in delight as the furious Asian pilot's face went from pink to red to purple as he silently shook his fist at the grinning Duo. 

Quatre sighed and shook his head as the two took off down the hall, this time the chase not sprinkled with Duo's peals of hyena-like laughter and Wufei's foreign expletives. He glanced sideways to Trowa, nodding a goodnight to Relena as she exited. 

"And in the end, my friend, you're the only one who came out unscathed," he smiled, massaging his throat.

Trowa shrugged as Quatre shot him a defeated look.

"We should've made you go first. You don't even _use_ your voice!"

"Isn't it funny how you just realized that?" Trowa's calm voice laughed airily as he too strolled out of the den, leaving a flabbergasted Quatre in his wake.

…………………

Ahh … four pages of pointless and lame humor … and our little bunny winning the wager. So there, Hiiro! So … what next? Why are you asking me? O_o I probably know the least about "what's next" out of all of us … :sigh: :looks up: Pretty sparklies … Hey, back off. I like my delusional world. Yours, Angel. ^___~

Lunarian Amethyst: Rei's the reporter, yes, but … this world isn't very realistic – Usagi got into her manga for goodness sakes! Rei doesn't know mainly because what happened defies human expectations – people can't believe that Usagi is now in her manga, conversing with imaginary characters.

Kiwi-chan: You ~do~ write well though! I'm serious! Though you should write more … ~hint, hint~ Thanks for the lovely compliments! ^^

Callisto: Well … not ~necessarily~, y'know? Lol. ^^

Jally: The smoochies? Lol … I'm not sure they exist! **Sigh** ^^

Solus Nox: Up until then, yes. Lol. ^___~

Silly Smiles: Or so people tell me … hmm … here's the next chapter! Sorry to make you wait!

Crazygurl70: **blinks** It is? I'm not sure I agree but … I'm flattered. ^^

Kiwi: Sorry to make you wait so long!

Sailor Watoki Tsuna (I'm SAN2): Erm … I think this chapter's a LOT shorter. Lol. Sorry. ^^

Cheska: Does it really warrant an "OMG!!"? Lol. Thanks so much!

Sunshine Fia: Really? Wow … I obviously have no taste whatsoever. I thought it was dull. Lol. 

Lilaclight: To kiss or not to kiss indeed! Well … Hiiro got there through being dense but … I suppose maybe he "accidentally" missed a few questions due to psychological reasons? I'm not sure I want to go into that. Relena? She's heart-broken. Lol. And it's kind of weird when one first finds out that one is created by some other person. Really weird. 

Sailor Grape: Lol. Yeah, Usa is smart enough. And I decided I didn't need to go to the trouble. ^^ The confessions of love? They came out of nowhere? I agree. And I personally hated it … but it needed to be done and I wasn't in the mood to ease it upon the readers … lol. ^^ Actually, I think it's more accurately that Hiiro can't DRAW a map. ^_____~

Kawaii Chibi Megami: Thanks! Glad that you like it. Here's the update!

^_~: I updated, I updated! ^^


	17. Change of Heart

Disclaimer: 40, 40, I got 40 million. Do I hear 50? Fifty! I see fifty! Do I see fifty-five million? Fifty-five, fifty-five … going once, going twice, sold! Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon sold to the ninety-year-old in a wheel chair! There. I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon anymore. :P

Thanks go to Ashika, Autumn Hime, and Serenity-Moon for editing and beta-reading. :D

****

Chapter 16: Change of Heart

Even though Usagi was worried sick about what could or would happen next, she was not one to forgo sleep in order to worry. 

In the end, it all came down to one question: now that she had got what she wanted, did she want what she had got?

She didn't know.

The time limit in _Gundam Wing_ loomed over her like a shadow demon and there really wasn't much she could do. 

She didn't know how Hiiro felt.

She barely knew how she felt. When had things in life stopped being so clear-cut? 

By morning, she had only come up with one fact: women were hard to please.

…………………

He dreaded the rising of the sun for it symbolized duty rearing its ugly head. Hiiro had never, not once in his life, been in any situation similar to this. He stood at a crossroads, between Relena and Usagi, both of whom had pledged their love for him but were both also out of his class.

"Hiiro?" He felt his shoulders tense at the sight of Usagi, blonde hair and all, looking oblivious to his anxiety in her pink moon-dotted pajamas. His heart began thumping erratically as she blinked and smiled at him from across the breakfast table. 

"What?" he asked, flustered.

Again, she smiled that beauteous smile and replied, "Can you pass me the syrup?"

Hiiro was violently jerked back to reality. 

…………………

Due to some excellent strategic planning by Quatre, everybody found that they were called out of the house in the afternoon, whether sent on an errand to acquire bananas, or carried out the door by a nonchalant Rashid and forced to perform manual labor in Quatre's football stadium of a garden. Everybody, that was, except Hiiro, Usagi, and the guy at the bottom of everything – Quatre. 

Usagi rolled her eyes. It was obvious what Quatre was doing though she did have to give the blonde points for trying his hardest to get out of the soon-to-be battle zone by claiming he needed to be shut up in his study for the afternoon. Hiiro seemed unaware of this scheme and that would be the cause, she supposed, of the rather violent sounds of banging coming from the study. Quatre was probably tearing his hair out at the moment. She predicted that if this act of nonchalance between Hiiro and herself continued for another hour, Quatre would be bald.

So, because she would have hated to see a bald Quatre and because she was never one to play hard to get, Usagi decided to jump right into Quatre's plans. And maybe beg his forgiveness for the delay and loss of hair later. 

"Hiiro, can we talk?"

His startled expression was so priceless that she almost whipped her sketchbook out and started sketching. But she quickly decided that Hiiro would find that much less amusing than she. 

He nodded silently and she stepped further into the room. There was no turning back now.

"Hiiro, I meant every word I had said before and during the bet and … and … I truly do love you." Usagi found that writing sap was very different from acting out sap. It was so much easier to have Relena shout out random declarations of affection in the manga than to actually do it herself. She suddenly felt her respect for Relena mount another notch. 

She shifted from foot to foot and cleared her throat as silence met her question head-on. "Hiiro?" 

"I'm sorry." Her heart sank. "I don't love you."

She looked away. "Then … don't bother fulfilling the terms of the bet. I'd rather you not."

He looked uncomfortable and swept his eyes around the room, looking anywhere but at her.

"Can you tell me why?"

His eyes caught hers and stared at her so piercingly that it suddenly became difficult to think up coherent thoughts. "I'm not real, remember?"

The words were almost sarcastic but the tone was oddly emotionless and casual. 

"I-" The rest of the sentence stuck at her throat. 

"I'm sorry."

"So am I," she returned bitterly and walked out of the room before he could see her cry.

…………………

"You did WHAT?!" The walls shook as Quatre raged. Duo was long gone, running out of the room before another word could be uttered. Wufei shrunk back against the wall while Trowa tried to blend in with the shadows. Only Hiiro stood stock-still in the face of a thing even more ominous than a Gundam ready to obliterate a colony – Quatre's anger. 

"Do you know what I DID for you? All the trouble I went to?! Do you know how STUPID it was for me to send DUO to go get bananas and WUFEI and TROWA to prune the rose bushes? Do you KNOW how much money it would take to FIX everything again?!" 

Wufei let go of a snicker. Everything Quatre said was true – Duo had come back at around 5:00 that day, proudly announcing that Kroger had decided to have a sale on bananas and he had bought one hundred and twenty-four pounds of it. Quatre had turned so white when the men started rolling boxes of bananas into his mansion that Wufei had thought he was going to faint. And the garden incident…

He scowled. It was all Trowa's fault for not telling him that if you pulled the cord on the lawn mower, it would start mowing the lawn. Therefore, it was also all Trowa's fault that half of Quatre's rose bushes were mangled and there were patches of where the dirt almost showed due to the cut grass. And it certainly wasn't his fault that he couldn't tell a flower from a weed and when asked to weed the garden had dug up all the flowers. Give him a break. 

Quatre was bright red and had started shaking Hiiro violently by the shoulders. By then a faint light of panic was evident in Hiiro's eyes as Quatre continued ranting. 

"Now, if you don't give me a DAMN good reason, I will make you eat all the DAMN bananas that DUO bought!"

Wufei shrank back a few more inches as Trowa inched towards the door. It was bad enough that Quatre was bright purple and that he was yelling but when the blonde Arabian started cursing, one had to prepare for the worst. Wufei was positive that by then, Duo had already put up the temporary bomb shelter in his room and dragged both Usagi and Relena in there with him. He was also painfully aware that Duo was out of harm's way while he was still behind enemy lines. 

But he was also sure that he wanted to hear Yui's reason.

"We're from two different worlds. She's from the past and I'm merely a character she created."

Quatre's face darkened but remained purple. "That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard," he replied softly, letting go of Hiiro's shoulders and stepping back several paces. Hiiro narrowed his eyes at the blonde suspiciously as if he were afraid that Quatre might pull out dynamite at any moment and light it. 

"Go apologize to her and admit that you love her – don't you dare lie, Hiiro Yui! – and then maybe, MAYBE, you won't have to eat bananas for dinner." 

The three of them began to file out of the room in a solemn line as Quatre stood by, looking as if he were ready to bark out, "March! Left, left, left, right, left." 

Wufei glanced over at Hiiro. The panic was gone from his eyes and the Asian pilot honestly admired him for standing in the path of tidal wave Quatre and still remaining as stoic as ever. 

The admiration somewhat lessened with Quatre yelled out, "QUICKLY!" and Hiiro flinched. Wufei knew for sure that Yui was officially traumatized for life. The Perfect Soldier had been broken, and he would never be able to look at Quatre the same way. 

…………………

The door creaked open, and she jumped back, scowling. "Don't you knock, Hiiro?"

"We need to talk."

"About what?" She looked back down at her magazine coolly. He reeled back in surprise. This Usagi was very different from the one that afternoon. 

"About … this situation."

"What situation?" 

He ignored her icy voice. "I admit that … that … I feel something towards you." 

She didn't answer, didn't even look up. 

"But … but what about the Eve Wars? How can it ever end? What of this … 'manga' that I'm in?"

Finally, Usagi looked up, eyes hard as steel. "Is that all I am to you, Hiiro? Some deity that dropped in on your doorstep who could stop the war?"

She got up and started pushing him towards the door. "Th-that's not what I m-"

The door slammed in front of his face. 

Quatre was NOT going to be happy about this.

…………………

Pure attempts at humor. Not very good ones either. I promise it'll get more interesting! I just need to get all the emotional junk out of the way … hahahaha … grrr. But anyhow. This chapter was very … turbulent. But probably not as bad as the next one. I think they confronted each other about three times about emotions in the next chapter … ~sigh~ But I'm getting back onto this one! Since GM is done and all … and I really have nothing to use as an excuse. ^^

Notes:

Kelly: Heh … you still think it's interesting. Here's more though! :D

Lady-Tomoyo: Heh … "tomorrow" in Gundam time served on a platter! Have fun! :D

Amanda: Thanks! Here's more!

Fantasia: Heh heh … well … I actually check it more often but at that time … my life was messed up. Sorry about what's been happening in your life … I hope you got my email but … it seemed messed up. 

Donna: Heh … nothing happens next. 

Callisto Star: Gosh … I barely remember what happened last chapter. Yeah, the trivia question was a bit weird but I really couldn't think of any other logical reason for one of them to lose and the other to win. Ironic, y'know. ^^;;; I'm so lame … but that's the genius of it! :D

Kimono-pebols: Thank you! Yes, Usa/Heero do rule! :D 

Solus Nox: Longer chapter … hmmm … I'm not sure this one is longer. Heh. 

Ashika: Heh … this was before I "met" you, ne? How weird … well … great to have you here! :D

Sailor Grape: I do now! I actually know what's going to happen … I think. ^^;;; But you got over the writer's block, right? Since you're updating again? ^^ Anyhow, thanks for the review! :D

Juxagirl: I barely remember that … seriously. But the Wufei part … I remember feeling so pathetic after I posted it. It's as if I were trying to be funny but nothing's happening. But thanks for your support! :D

Himesama16: Really? Wow … Heh … this chapter was uploaded at about 12:00 midnight. And I wonder why people can't see it .. I guess the others never truly find out what the wagers were … hmmm … how sad for them. :P Thanks for the review! :D

The Desert Fox: Well … the whole competition was messed up and I somewhat tried to explain it. Hiiro is in the Gundam world and all the trivia was from the "real world" so he really shouldn't have known any of that … But the Usagi part … well … luck, I guess. ^^ Date? What date? Sappy moments are not my forte so … I avoid them like heck. ^^;;;

Cheska: I updated again! Yay! :D _Must_ kiss? Uh-oh … _edges away_. ^^;;

Shannan: Heh … I hated it. But you already know that … ^^;;;

Serena Yuy: Duo _is_ kawaii, ne? Hmmm … that is an idea I've been wondering about lately … hmmm … Duo/Usa is cute too, hmm? ^^;;; But seriously…~walks off talking to self~

Dreamertwin: Fulfill the terms? Hiiro? Nah! He always gets out of doing things. Because he's perfect. Dang it. 

Email: angelight97@yahoo.com. If you're interested in being emailed before updates, email me at angelight98@hotmail.com. Thanks! ^^


	18. Playing God

Disclaimer: Fanfiction has been around for ages and I personally don't believe anybody actually _owns_ the series they're writing about. Until now … Kidding, of course. ^^

Warnings: Not beta-read and digressive at numerous points. ^^

****

Chapter 17: Playing God

It was ghastly. Completely and utterly dreadful. The walls seemed to close in on him as Quatre gritted his teeth and tried his hardest to bear it. 

It didn't work. 

Hiiro had never talked much before and Usagi had never talked much to Hiiro … so why was it so quiet when the two were giving each other the silent treatment? He shook his head and groaned.

Quatre had been absolutely shocked – shocked! – when Usagi refused Hiiro. After all, who initiated everything? Who actually was true to her emotions? Usagi didn't even have to _say_ that she loved him – she had already done that.

He fretted when the ticking of the clock echoed in the room – he had never heard the ticking of the clock before. Apparently the Hiiro-Usagi silent treatment affected everyone else. On the average, people were more jumpy, especially around him. Duo had already packed his bags and moved out for the next three days or three years depending on how long the silent argument might last. Trowa and Wufei have kept themselves scarce, out of his way and out of his sight. Usagi and Hiiro were both in their respective rooms, taking their meals on trays and privately. 

Quatre hated it when he was frustrated and had almost no one to yell at.

………………….

They ordered Chinese takeout that night and Quatre had demanded that everybody was present at the dinner table, including Duo who was staying in some motel downtown. He had calmly asked each Maguanac to deliver messages to each person, asking that said person should attend dinner that night if he wished to have his head attached to his body the next morning. He also mentioned that he felt this situation should be settled maturely, not through silent treatments.

Usagi snorted when she got the message. He wanted to rip their heads off for not attending and gave his reason as the cliched "we should act as adults" deal? But, out of courtesy to the owner of the house she was staying in without fee, Usagi decided to go. And refuse to speak.

"What're the chances of our getting out of this okay?" she whispered quietly to Duo after he entered through the front and smiled weakly at Quatre.

"Don't bother wondering. With Quatre, even if you know what will happen, you don't know."

"Okay then. I'll just pretend I understood that."

Duo grinned nervously and let go of a high-pitched giggle as Quatre turned to the two at that moment. 

"Usagi, Duo! You're here. Take a seat " Duo decided that he didn't like the way Quatre uttered his name as opposed to Usagi's. Just to be safe, he decided to stick to the blonde artist. Quatre seemed to balk at the idea of hurting anybody directly in front of her.

Usagi sat in an unspecific seat, not in the middle nor on either side. Duo plopped down next to her. 

"Everybody, there are name tags on each seat. Please find your own and sit there," Quatre ordered pleasantly but Duo's blood ran cold. He sighed, dragged himself up reluctantly, and searched for his name taped on the backs of each chair. His heart sank as he realized he was farthest away from Usagi. Not surprisingly, Usagi sat at one end of the table with Hiiro to her left and Quatre to her right. 

Though it was obvious Hiiro wasn't comfortable with the arrangement, he was given plenty of opportunities to glare at the mastermind behind everything as Usagi glanced from Quatre to Hiiro, Hiiro to Quatre, wondering what to do and settling for just looking straight ahead at Duo sweating.

"Now, everybody. Let's eat." Quatre clapped his hands twice. The food instantly started circulating around the table and Usagi gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it when Hiiro's fingers brushed against hers. Hiiro, however, was far from that discreet and openly glared at her. Seeing this, she retaliated by glaring back. And so there commenced a glaring contest. Duo glanced at them and then uneasily at Quatre as the blonde clutched his head in his hands, seemingly ready to scream. 

The whole table went silent as each person, all four other pilots and Relena, stared at the contest as one would stare at a chess match. 

Hiiro hissed and looked away when Trowa passed the soup to him and the side came into contact with the side of his arm. He glared at Trowa but Trowa remained impassive. Duo's eyes darted from one fight to the other, muttering under his breath, "Checkmate, Hiiro."

Duo continued to study the three at the other end of the table curiously, glancing up so often that he almost forgot his food. He stared at them as Usagi leaned over and whispered something into Quatre ear to which he nodded. Then, carefully, the blonde artist tapped at her glass with her spoon and cleared her throat when the already almost-silent table went deadly quiet. 

"Everybody, I would just like to tell you that starting tomorrow, I'll be leaving in two weeks."

Quatre stood up, wide-eyed, and shot Hiiro a _look_. The dark-haired pilot was staring down at his hardly-touched sesame chicken, mentally grappling with his fear. Finally, reluctantly, he stood up as well. 

"Usagi … I hope … that you make this decision knowing that I love you and wish you the best." He looked aside and quietly excused himself from the table.

Five pairs of eyes followed him before turning back to Usagi. Her eyes stayed on Hiiro's diminishing figure the longest and when she turned back, she met all five stares. Biting her lip, she grinned weakly and fidgeted. "What are you guys doing? Go back to eating." Even as she was saying this, she was edging away from the table. After everybody turned their attentions back to their food, she quickly excused herself as well and slowly walked after him.

"Well, Quatre. It looks as if this time, your plan might actually work," Trowa remarked quietly.

…………………

Hiiro tensed when he heard the soft knock at the door and wondered whether or not he should pretend to be asleep. He decided against it. "Come in."

Usagi peeked in through his door and smiled nervously. "Hiiro?"

He stood up. "What?"

"Did you … did you really mean what you said at the dinner table?" 

He didn't look at her. "I always mean what I say."

"Well…" Usagi was at a loss for words. "I'm not really sure what to think right now. And I'm not positive that I'm willing to try this for two weeks…"

"If you want to say no, just say no. You don't have to give excuses."

She bristled at this. "That was not an excuse, Hiiro. That was a legitimate reason. I have to think this relationship over."

He shrugged and nodded.

Usagi's face gradually softened as she stared at him. "Hiiro, nobody can live happily with unrequited love. Not even you. Trust me; I've had experience." 

He didn't answer.

"And what's possibly worse is loving somebody but not knowing if he or she loves you back. No matter what you do, there is always the slimmest slivers of hope that keeps you in pain."

Hiiro looked away and out the window.

"That's why I need to tie up all loose ends before I leave."

With that, Usagi exited the room, closing the door gently behind her.

…………………

"But what do you _feel_ about being a Gundam pilot?"

"I don't feel anything."

Usagi sighed. "No, really, Trowa. Can you honestly say you don't care either way?"

Trowa stared at the blonde quizzically. Her questions unnerved him and only because she had declared the interview to be integral to the manga did he agree to it. "Well … I don't suppose there is anything besides being a pilot in this life for me."

"So … would you call that hopelessness?"

Trowa shook his head. "I would call that 'no comment'."

He watched her as her blue eyes widened and she was caught off guard. "Aha! You know how to crack jokes, Trowa!" She scribbled notes onto her notebook paper as Trowa stared on puzzledly, too confused to ask.

"Is that supposed to be surprising?" 

Usagi blinked up at him, tilting her head to one side perplexedly. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought Trowa sounded hurt. "No, it's just…" she tried to think of a way to phrase if nicely but couldn't come up with anything plausible. "It's just … I'm the person who created you and you have a trait that I didn't even _think_ about putting in you…does that make sense?"

Trowa didn't answer but instead looked away, out the window. Slowly, he returned, as if thinking the answer out as he spoke it, "Why don't you tell me that? You're the mind behind all of us, this entire world. What do you plan for us?"

She blinked slowly. "Oh, I see." Her tone had a note of finality in it, as if she had finally figured out the meaning of life. "You think I'm playing God." 

"I don't think. You think for me."

Usagi shook her head. "That's not it, Trowa. Don't you get it? You're developing traits I never planned for you to have! You have a will of your own! I don't control every aspect of your life!"

"Just most of it?" His tone was neutral and his expression as well but the words were sarcastic and bitter, burning like acid through her nice ideas of the relationships between herself and the people of the manga. "It doesn't change anything. I'm just part of a book, a comic book, with no purpose in life other than to entertain the 'real people' in your world."

No words passed between them as she thought hard for an answer and came up with none.

"Well tell me, Usagi. What makes you think that you're not part of somebody else's 'manga', entertaining a world of other people more 'real' than you are? What then?"

"I…" Her brow furrowed as she thought hard, examining her feelings. "I suppose I'd question life and reality."

Trowa nodded. "Bingo. That's how I feel." He stood up. "I'm skeptical about life and I'm not willing to lay down my cards until it lays down its." 

She watched him as he walked out of the room and disappeared when he turned to travel down the hall.

…………………

Usagi stared blankly at the pencil sketches in front of her, so rough and unperfected. She had never realized how her visit to Gundam Wing would affect its characters until after her chat with Trowa. Did she believe it? How was she to know that this entire stay was anything more than a long, long dream while she remained in a coma in the real world.

The real world.

What an odd way of phrasing it.

Who's to know what was real and what was imagined? 

She could go home that very day and burn every copy of Gundam Wing she had ever published. Then Hiiro, Trowa, Duo, Quatre, Wufei, Relena, Rashid … all of them … would only exist in her memories and mind. Would they not be real then? Would they not be real simply because they were created by her? Or would they simply be an extension of herself? Her imagination, her will, her essence?

So. Would falling in love with Hiiro be like falling in love with herself?

She shook her head hard and squeezed her eyes shut tiredly. No, that couldn't be it.

"Usagi?" Relena poked her head through the doorway and smiled at her. "Trowa wanted me to talk to you. Something about manga and the real world."

She hurriedly sat up and stared at Relena wide-eyed.

"Just tell me one thing, Relena. Do you think you're real?"

The dark blonde pacifist frowned. "Well … before you came here talking about the real world and how we were only part of a book, yes. I thought I was real."

"Is your world equally important to you? Do you believe in it and believe it is tangible?"

"Well … yes. I mean … who would honestly think that they're simply part of a book? It's not as if we don't have books in this world too. It's just … so mind-boggling, thinking that."

"You have a very strong spirit, Relena."

Relena blinked and looked up.

"And I know that you try your hardest to do the right thing but sometimes it's just so difficult."

"I-"

"And I finally understand why I never got you to be able to work for me in the manga."

"W-why?"

A smile stretched over Usagi's face. "I never believed you were real."

…………………

There was a knock at the door for the second time that day. She looked up as the door opened and the last person she had expected to see wishing to talk to her stood, neutrally staring at her.

"What is this, let's all bother Usagi day?" she joked weakly and mentally beat herself up for such a lame joke. "What do you want, Hiiro?"

"I want you to stay here."

Usagi looked puzzled. "Well, where would I go if I didn't stay here?"

"I want you to stay in this world." Before she could argue, he hurriedly added, "You yourself said that you didn't know whether or not your world could be real! What's the difference, Usagi? This world is just as real as yours. And I'm just as real as you are."

She gulped as he stepped closer. "W-well … it's not just that, Hiiro. I have a life back at home."

"Are you willing to give that up?"

Usagi frowned to herself, wondering whether or not she could live without ever seeing Shingo, or Mom, or Dad, or any of her cousins ever again. What would she do without Mom waking her up every other day with a phone call? What would she do without Shingo pulling her hair and calling her short? What would she do without Dad bringing out the shotgun every time she brought home a boyfriend?

She didn't know.

But she did know one thing.

"Y-yes. I'm willing. To stay here."

She tensed as his arms involuntarily encircled her but slowly relaxed after looking up at his face. "I love you, Usagi."

The words seemed so out of place coming from his mouth that she almost laughed but didn't. "I'll stay here. I'll stay here forever."

…………………

Six pages! Six pages! I'm so proud of myself … ^^;;; Shocking news: Picture This is actually _done_. Yeah, I know. I've been doing this a lot lately – finishing it chapters before I post but … it's nice this way. Plenty of relaxation. ^^;;; There isn't much left and, truthfully, I think the relationship and events are pretty rushed. There's no definite … anything after confessions, etc. Sooo…

As always, thanks for reading. Yours, Angel.

Ok … I've been holding off on this for a long time but I've decided I _am_ going to cut the responses down to just … "useful" ones. It's a bit awkward for me to find nothing to say back other than "thanks for reading! Here's the next chapter." And I'm sure it's not exactly pleasant for you to scroll down to your name and find nothing more than that. So! Here goes. 

Cheska: Wow … you can actually get excited over the last chapter? Lol. ^^;;; Errr … I can't really answer any of those questions primarily because they are key to the ending … but … yeah, I realize they didn't kiss. ^^;;; Hmm … I wonder if they ever kiss … _checks chapters_

Hikari-chan: Usa and Hiiro's interaction was a bit … redundant and forced last chapter so … I guess it's a good thing that you didn't care much about it! :D 

Firefly Princess: I'm still amazed that anybody can still remember the story line because I had to check back to previous chapters when I took this up again. Haha … loved your dinner menu. :D I should've wrote it in. ^^ Her cousins? Wow! You still remember them! It's been awhile since I've mentioned anything in the real world … a bad thing, I suppose. ^^ Thanks for the review! 

Ashika: Hmm … so antagonistic, ne? ^^ But anyhow … yeah, you've sent this chapter back to me so don't worry about it! You're not a dork. ^^

Dreamertwin: Quatre … heh … poor Quatre … he's going to die young from all this stress, ne? Nope, Hiiro isn't perfect. That at least gives us something of a chance that somebody like him lives in our world . ^^ Thanks for the review! :D

The Desert Fox: Actually … I've never seen the Three Stooges. Yeah, my friends call me insane too but … haha. I will do sap … just … not willingly. ^^;;;

Thanks for all of your time and effort in the reviews, guys. :D


	19. Inferno

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. And for the newbies out there … here's a hint: even if you write and write and write … GW and SM will STILL remain out of your reach. What a depressing world…

Okay … a rather big misunderstanding over the last chapter – I _did_ mean Picture This was done but done as in … I'm done writing it. I've already written the last chapter and epilogue. ^^ However … this doesn't stop until chapter 20 and then an epilogue. Also, I just want to hurry up and get this fic over with soooo … I'm going to be updating about … _shrugs_ either every other day or every third day instead of every week like I've taken to doing … kinda. But anyhow … here's the chapter!

****

Chapter 18: Inferno

"Are you sure you're willing to go through with this? Especially with Usagi waiting for you?" Quatre looked worried, genuinely so this time, and Wufei had to admit that he was more than a little relieved. After an initial period of crowing over his victory, the blonde Arabian had relapsed back to his normal, sweet self for the last two weeks though both Duo and he knew that they'd think twice before trying Quatre's patience from now on. 

Three heads, his, Trowa's, and Duo's turned from Quatre to Hiiro much like how one would watch a tennis tournament, following the rally of balls. Hiiro took his time answering.

"I don't … suppose I know. It's different. This time somebody is actually waiting for my return."

Quatre nodded solemnly. "And you know J's requirements. He expects you to come back successfully and not return otherwise."

"That's uplifting."

"Think twice before you accept the mission, Hiiro."

The stoic boy stared down at his shoes, frowning to himself. "I already thought this through and I've already accepted." With a brief glance tossed over his shoulder, he walked out of the room, basked in silence. 

"Are you going to go through with keeping this from Usagi, Quatre?" Trowa asked quietly, pegging the blonde with a serious stare as he unfolded his arms.

Quatre didn't answer right away, but when he did, the answer was definite and solid. "I never go back on my promises." He followed Hiiro out the door. 

"I don't think this is right, guys," Duo started uneasily, comic voice a slight relief from the highly stressed ambiance. "Usagi has a right to know about this and Hiiro has no right to keep it from her.

"No, Maxwell. This is Yui's decision and Yui's battle."

Trowa sighed. "Hiiro might be phenomenal when it comes to battles but if he can't win out against his heart…" The two of them, Duo and Trowa, slowly strode out of the room as Wufei stared after them. A silent Relena followed.

"Good luck, Yui," he muttered to himself.

…………………

"What'd you mean Hiiro's sick?" Usagi looked from one person to the next, staring them down suspiciously. "You had better not to be lying to me! Hiiro doesn't get sick! I didn't make him that way!"

"You're still talking that way, Usagi?" Trowa warned, eyebrow raised sarcastically. 

Her slender shoulders tensed as those endearing clear blue eyes traveled to him. "Y-you're right. I'm sorry."

Duo laughed nervously. "That's right, Usa! Y'know the only other time Hiiro was sick-" His eyes widened as Wufei jabbed him in the ribs, silently warning him to not push his luck. - was in my dream!" 

Shooting one last suspicious look at the four of them, Usagi walked out of the room, blonde pigtails swinging to every emphatic step.

…………………

She stared up at the dulled white of her ceiling and practiced breathing slowly. She had gotten the method of relieving stress from some _Reader's Digest_ article years back. Or … _was_ it years? It had seemed so far back but now, upon second thought, she realized it was no more than six months ago. 

How was everybody in the real world? Older, no doubt. Art and Luna and mentioned something along the lines of every week here equaling a month over there. How could that be? Two trivial weeks had passed here yet her parents had lived without her for two months? It didn't seem possible.

Usagi knew they would be coming for her sooner or later and she knew she couldn't bear going back there when people who had been her age were now months older than she was. What would they say? Would they hate her? Would they welcome her back?

And what could she say to Luna and Art to make them realize the soul-searing, earth-shattering kind of love between herself and Hiiro? Usagi sighed to herself and gave up breathing slowly. 

"I'll just say: Luna, Art … I've come to a decision. And though it was a difficult one, I believe truly that it is the right one-"

"And what might that decision be?"

She gasped quickly and sat up, feeling light-headed from the sudden change of position. Violet eyes and crystal-blue ones stared at her, smiling.

"Luna! Art!"

…………………

"Successfully infiltrated room 4879X13. Main control system ahead, unaware guards – two seconds away from right, ten seconds from left," he muttered, mentally pacing himself and preparing for the next move. "Security doors locked and coded. Three computers; three codes. Bring it on."

He frowned to himself as, after eleven tries, the code appeared as Dante on the first computer. Three lines came up on the screen, letter by letter, as he scanned them and frowned. Why were they so familiar?

__

I am the way into the city of woe.

I am the way to a forsaken people.

I am the way into eternal sorrow.

Inspired, he cracked the second code on the second try – Alighieri. Three more lines took their time appearing on the blank, eerily blue screen.

__

Sacred justice moved my architect.

I was raised here by divine omnipotence, 

Primordial love and ultimate intellect.

He tapped his fingers and thought hard. Dante Alighieri. _The Divine Comedy_. He tried it but it didn't work. Thinking quickly, he tried _Paradisio_ next but that failed too. Quickly, without thinking, he tapped in _Purgatorio_ but still, _access denied_ flashed across the screen. 

Suddenly, it all clicked. _Inferno._

He ran for it, through the high-security doors, double-checking the small heat-sensor in his hands, trying to convince himself that it wasn't all a foil. His fears were confirmed when the sensor came up with nothing. The heat spots were gone. The guards were gone. He was alone in the entire base. 

He didn't need to check to make sure what the last three lines were. The image was burned into his head – a timer ran, signaling that he had twenty-seven seconds to high-tail it out of there before the entire base was incinerated from space, via a satellite. He gritted his teeth, pushing himself, making sharp turns and dashing down empty hallways. Twenty seconds.

As he ran, he repeated the last three lines to himself, from memory.

"_Only those elements time cannot wear,_

Were made before me, and beyond time I stand-"

Gasping in freezing breaths of air, his eyes widened as he reached the entrance and saw that it was sealed. Scrawled upon it, in permanent marker, read the last line of the warning—

"_Abandon all hope ye who enter here," _he whispered to himself. "The gateway to Hell…"

From far away, he heard the low rumbling of chains of dynamite being set off. 

__

Please, God, if you are real. Help Usagi forget.

Miles above, in space, bold red letters flashed on a black screen: BASE TERMINATED.

…………………

"Luna and Art promised me Usagi will come home soon," Lita whispered to herself, gently tracing the outline of Hiiro's form upon the first copy of Usagi's _Gundam Wing:_ Book 1. "I wonder … I wonder if I'll ever get to see you again, Usa…"

She blinked back tears as she looked up, trying to contain them in her eyes. A recent drawing caught her eye. Rini had complained about her indecisiveness but finally, after much thought, she changed the original self-destruction scene to one of Hiiro being trapped, alone and helpless. She wondered if Usagi would approve upon returning. It was such a different take on Hiiro … perfect Hiiro: 

Trapped like a rat.

…………………

"Tell us what?" Luna prompted. Usagi quickly came back to her senses.

"Luna … Art … I've given this a lot of thought." She paused and glanced fearfully up at the two. She caught Luna frowning softly, undoubtedly not used to her protégé fearing her. "I … I love Hiiro. And I've decided to stay here, with him."

Art opened his mouth to speak.

"No! Now before you say anything! I want you to know that I love everybody back home dearly but … how many chances does one get at true love? I've thought this through completely." She sighed in relief. "Now you can talk."

Luna shushed Artemis and stepped forward instead, touching Usagi gently on the shoulder. "I've known that the two of you loved each other and … am ashamed to have helped the relationship along." She didn't have to look up to see the betrayed look on Usagi's face. "Think it over again, Usagi. Remember, you have control over every character in this world, including Hiiro. What makes you believe that his love for you isn't simply an illusion because you wished for it? What makes you think you didn't _force_ him into it?"

She looked up to see Usagi cringing. "I'm sorry, Usagi. I'm not saying it's true but … consider it."

"I-I have to go talk to him." Luna stared sadly after her charge as Usagi turned and ran out of the room.

…………………

"What do you mean he's not here?!" she cried, frantic eyes traveling from one downcast face and bowed head to the next. "He left without telling me? How could he do this to me?"

"If it makes it any better … he only wanted to protect you…" Duo offered meekly.

"Protect me?! He considers lying to me protecting me?" Usagi swiped the tears off of her face, suddenly ashamed at having cried. "Forget it. Tell him when he comes back that I left with Luna and Art." She quickly sprinted out of the room, angry at the tears streaking her face, angry at Hiiro for abandoning her. 

"Usagi! Wait!" Quatre ran after her but skidded to a halt in front of the two guests of the house – Luna and Artemis. Usagi stood, teary-eyed, behind them and tried her hardest to look brave and fierce though it was obvious she was about to crumble. 

"We'll be leaving now," Luna said softly.

"Best regards to everybody," Artemis finished.

"Usa-"

But they were already gone. 

…………………

Notes: The entire code, etc in the Hiiro mission scene was based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy that is divided into Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradisio (Paradise/Heaven). The long, long poem is based on Dante's allegorical travel through Hell, then Purgatory, and finally Heaven. The poem that I used as the clues to the codes were in (I think) Canto 1 of Inferno and was the inscription on the gates to Hell. ^^;;; The "I" in the poem would be Satan, in this case, and he refers to God in the second stanza soooo … yeah. Just thought you might be remotely interested. ^^

CystalMoon: I _do_ believe that for the first time in my life, I actually followed somebody's command of "update soon". ^^ Must've been the death threats … :D

Dreamertwin: Does this chapter answer that? Lol. There was no way Usagi could have possibly stayed. I can't leave her family hanging like that … and though your guess was actually something I considered, I dismissed it because it would have been stretching credibility and I'd already done that with this story more than once. 

Firefly Princess: Again, the entire misunderstanding of Picture This being done applies. I'm such a dork sometimes…^^;;; One of your suggestions is actually pretty close to the semi-ending. (It kinda ends that way but it's not really the ending sooo … yeah. You'll know it when you see it. ^^) But that's all I'm saying! :D I _really_ should have shared the banana idea with the whole fanfiction world. :D

Callisto Star: Misunderstanding about Picture This being done applies here as well … But actually … your mentioning of the "definition" of an ending almost describes the epilogue perfectly … buuuuut … I didn't need to say that. ^^;;;

Water Angel: I've had people mention to me that they can see the story in their minds but … really … I can't see anything when I read it back to myself. Lol. I must be mentally handicapped or something … But thanks – that was a very great compliment. ^^

Serena Yuy: Again, misunderstanding about Picture This ending applies … but hey! Look on the bright side – 3 more chapters after this that will be updated and finished by next weekend! :D

Thanks for all of your great reviews, uplifting and touching … however rehearsed that sounds. ^^;;; Yours, Angel.

Anybody obsessed with Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho? ARG! I've, unfortunately, caught the Kurama Syndrome a.k.a. Silvertail Syndrome. I feel like dying but … sadly, I can't. _sigh_ Now, all I can do is look forward to Monday when YYH will come on again … _sigh_. I'm _am_ such a dork. ^^;;;


	20. Welcome to the Real World

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon = Not Mine. If they were, I would have sponsored or started a project that made these two a crossover. If they were, there would be a channel that plays them over and over and over … If they were, I wouldn't be writing this, dang it! :D

Happy Note: This chapter is happy!!! YAY!! :D I don't think it gets _really_ depressing from now on…but there're still a few twists left. ^^ (Can't wait until this is done … _groans_)

****

Chapter 19: Welcome to the "Real World"

Quatre started as a key in the lock turned and the front door creaked open, exposing the entire house to echoes of the crickets chirping in the late evening. He tensed and got up quickly to examine the sound as Duo and Trowa shot each other questioning looks. 

"Hiiro!" Quatre's eyes widened. "Are you all right? What happened? You were behind schedule and we suspected the worst but…" 

"Usagi … is she all right?" The words came out with difficulty, almost as a croak, as he stared at Hiiro's tired and battered form. 

"Usagi … we'll get back to that later. You look like you went to hell and back, Hiiro." By then, Duo, Trowa, and Relena were already behind him as Quatre ushered Hiiro through the door like an anxious mother hen. 

"In a way, I have. But where is Usagi?" 

Quatre shook his head to himself. There was no way Hiiro could be deterred. He glanced at the others for help but received nothing more than blank looks. Some friends they were. "She … she's gone, Hiiro."

"Gone?" The blonde started at the half-crazed gleam in Hiiro's eyes and covertly edged back an inch. 

"She went back to her own wo-" He didn't get to finish before Hiiro was gone, sprinting up the stairs. Shrugging defeatedly, his shoulders slumped as he turned back to the three good-for-nothings. Before he could come up with a sarcastic barb, Relena beat him to it.

"Do you think he'll be all right?" she asked uncertainly, craning her neck to glance up the stairs.

"Great. Just great. Now that Quatre's back to normal, we've got an insane Hiiro."

"Take that back, Trowa. That was both rude and inconsiderate," he admonished severely. 

"Well at least we're more considerate than Wufei."

Duo winced and swallowed hard. "He's probably still upstairs and suffering after that feast of bananas." He shrugged briefly. "All I've got to say is that your cook is _very_ creative, Quatre. Can't we just sell them again?"

Trowa rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. By the end of the week, all of them will be close to rotting. Nobody would be willing to spend anything on them."

"So? We'll pay _them_ then!"

"Nope," Trowa muttered while shaking his head, "Not going to happen. Just get used to eating bananas, dreaming bananas, and breathing bananas."

"Trowa! Duo!" Quatre looked exasperated. "How can you two talk about bananas at a time like this?"

"We could always talk about cucumbers if you want," Duo offered sincerely.

…………………

She stared blankly at the gift shops around her and gulped. This was it. She was back. Forever. 

"C'mon Usagi. Let's get you home," Luna said maternally, wrapping an arm around her slack shoulders. "You must realize that this is for the best."

"For the best," Artemis echoed emphatically. 

She looked aside but didn't show any other indication of opinion as the trio headed down the sidewalk. 

__

I promised you forever, Hiiro, but forever ended today.

…………………

His wide eyes took in the soullessly fluttering curtains, pale against the dark night outside. His ragged breathing was the only sound in the room and in his head as a warm, night breeze swept through the room and the gentle melody of crickets reached his ears. 

"Usagi…"

He walked slowly into the room, almost reverently, pacing its width and length. "I should have told you…" 

A flash of silver caught his eye, almost blinding him for a second and putting his devastated mind into a state of confusion. He walked towards it and frowned as he realized what it was – gundanium.

His fingers reached out and brushed against the cool metal, still wet from water-

His eyes widened as another, far brighter burst of light blinded him and there was nothing more.

…………………

Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared up at the mansion-like house. Oddly enough, no happy, relieved, or disappointed tears came though she was somewhat relieved and somewhat disappointed. Everything seemed dulled around her, including any emotions that coursed through her veins, poisoning her. She wished it would stay like that forever. 

Luna took the initiative and rang the doorbell. Artemis was long gone, after explaining some insane story about posing as a police officer and not wanting to get in trouble.

"Usagi! My Lord!"

She smiled softly at the wide, surprised, and elated eyes of her mother, not given the chance to answer before being swept into a fierce hug. 

"Oh, honey. Thank God you're back…" the middle-aged woman whispered before kissing her briefly on the cheek. Dad and Shingo appeared behind her and Usagi let go of a genuine smile and short squeal before rushing towards them. Shingo caught her and swung her around, grinning at her delighted face and flushed cheeks as Ikuko rushed to thank Luna.

"Oh, what can I ever do without you?" Luna simply smiled and shook her head. "But really … Usagi! Where were you this whole time?"

The blonde stared at her, dumbfounded, before Luna jumped in quickly. "Usagi walked into my office, almost as if on instinct, and told me she couldn't remember any of what happened. I'm not sure if in the future she'll remember it or not and share with you. It's up to her, really." She shot Usagi a meaningful look, indicating that it was completely up to her when and where to tell her family what had happened. 

"Oh … I see," Ikuko replied puzzledly. "Well … we really can't thank you enough, Miss Tsuki. If you want, do you wish to stay for dinner? We're going to hold a celebration here and-" She trailed off as she caught sight of Luna shaking her head politely.

"No, that's quite all right. I need to get back to work." 

As Luna's diminishing form disappeared, Ikuko quietly muttered to herself, "Such an odd woman…"

…………………

By the time Hiiro had caught his breath, the world around him had already changed. He gulped and looked around himself curiously. The hurrying passerby ignored him completely as he carefully investigated a nearby shop and shook his head no when a salesperson asked him if he needed assistance. He quickly left the shop, relieved that the world spoke his language, at least. 

He glanced around and mentally groaned to himself. How was he ever going to find Usagi in such an urban place with no clues but her voice, her name, and her face? 

__

Welcome to the "real world", Hiiro Yui, he thought sardonically to himself.

…………………

She walked along ponderously, deep in thought and unaware of anything else around her. Lita had called a while back, promising to come to the Tsukino dinner along with all twenty-nine of her cousins. She half-smirked to herself. Quatre's twenty-nine sisters were something of a parody of her own brood of "sisters". 

Lita had sounded excited on the phone, ready to show her something phenomenal. She claimed that her artistic skills had improved immensely over the time that Usagi had been gone. Usagi didn't doubt it. Everything had changed, including the people she had missed extensively while in _Gundam Wing_. Shingo had grown up and gotten a girlfriend. He had even matured enough to come into _her_ room and ask _her_ for advice. And she was pretty sure he didn't burp the ABCs to impress Mika. 

Mother still acted her cheerful self but Usagi could see the tired bags under her eyes that spoke of many sleepless nights. Daddy's previously stern and strict posture had deteriorated. He looked years older than when she had last seen him. Grandmother aged too. The physically healthy and fiery woman was still sarcastic and comical but there was a tired gleam in her eyes as if, just hours ago, she had been ready to give everything up. 

She was brought of her reverie by the sounds of excited squeals and animated talking. Blinking around bemusedly, Usagi's eyes rested upon a mob of girls flocked around a something. Frowning, she headed that way, ready to get in on the action if that something was a famous movie star. Something akin to her former childlike behavior returned as she edged closer and tried to push through the crowd. 

"Excuse me, pardon me. Coming through!" The crowd budged but unwillingly as she pushed her way through and finally caught glimpse of the person in the center. The fangirls around her quieted as one girl beside her recognized her and cried out her name. 

"Hiiro…?"

He got a hold of himself and turned to her. Her famous golden hair, too good to be natural though it was, was mussed and her eyes shone like bright sapphires. 

"Usagi." He reached out for her and for the first time that Usagi could remember, Hiiro Yui smiled a smile that was far better than the ones she had experimented with in the studio. 

"Hiiro!" She rushed to him and he caught her, enveloping her slight form in a sweet embrace as the dumbfounded girls around them finally collected themselves and surrounded the two, begging each for their autographs. 

Hiiro growled and glared while Usagi laughed. The fangirls found it adorable.

…………………

I know: the world has ended. A happy pause … heh … no cliffhanger either … I'm getting soft. ^^ Thanks for reading! Yours, Angel.

Firefly Princess: Your reviews are so motivating! That in itself must be an art … lol. ^^;;; Hiiro's always okay … I don't believe he'll die of anything other than old age. And maybe not even that! O___O But … hmmm … it's not just the typing errors that make me a dork … heh. 

SakuraMona: _Sniff_ I miss Kurama! ;__; Mona: Oh no … you're even worse than Sakura! 

Unspoiled Rini: That happens a lot with me too … find a story, love it to death, and not see it for a year. 

Serena Yuy: Heh heh heh heh heh … that's all I have to say. :D

Cheska: Heh … @_@ No actually I haven't seen Hikaru no Go but I've heard that it's awesome … sooo .. that's on my to-do list. :D And what a nice brother to download it for you! Not fair…

The Desert Fox: Rini? Ha. I hated her before too but … _shrugs_. I needed somebody else and she came to mind. 

Sunshine Fia: Lol. Every time you panic about Hiiro dying think this: Does Hiiro ever die in a mission? And I'm sure you'll feel better. :D 

News regarding my pathetic life: I missed YYH today! (Tuesday) Anybody interested in keeping me up to date? Lol…And does anybody know whether or not they're going to show all 112 episodes? _Sniff_. I've already had my heart broken when they refused to move on to the second arc of Kenshin and now that I know Inuyasha isn't going to be finished either … _sob_. Lol. If I'm not a dork, what am I? 

Thanks to everybody for reviewing! :D


	21. The Meaning of Love

Disclaimer: What is this shortness of breath? No … it couldn't be! _I_ own Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon? WOW! NOW who's laughing, huh? Wait … what? Oh. False alarm. I still don't own either Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. :P

A bit depressing … well … my "a bit" might be "a lot" but I'm just weird like that. Think about the title – think about the ending … I hope you get it! Lol … but no. This isn't the ending ending. There will be more! If just a little…I'll talk more at the end of the chapter. (audience: no thanks…)

****

Chapter 20: The Meaning of Love

"Okay, Quatre. I _know_ it's rude to disturb somebody who had recently gone through intense emotional trauma but … do you think even _Hiiro_ would stay in her room for," Duo paused to glance at his watch, "twenty-eight hours?" 

The blonde sighed and wearily put down the book he was reading. "You're right, Duo. We should go check on him." They both automatically glanced at the third person in the room – Trowa.

"What? I'm not going!" The tall pilot held his hands up defensively.

"Afraid that Yui might be in a suicidal mood?" Wufei bit out sarcastically.

Trowa scowled. "That's the least of my worries. What if Hiiro's in a murderous mood?"

"Besides, Wu-man, you're one to talk! While we were sitting here, our hearts breaking because Hiiro and Usagi were separated, you were upstairs in the bathroom chucking up last night's dinner." 

"Shut up, Maxwell. Only morons like you with iron-cast stomachs could stand all those bananas." Trowa glanced askance at the Chinese pilot and smirked when he caught him blushing. Wufei was obviously not used to being the weak one of the group, even when it came to stomaching strange and unusual meals.

"You guys…" Quatre sighed exasperatedly. "We need to check on him. Since nobody wants to brave it alone, we'll all go together."

"Deal," Trowa and Duo replied in unison. All three turned to Wufei who grumbled a bit about indigestion and finally muttered a skeptical, "Deal." A pensive Relena started when Trowa shook her shoulder and beckoned for her to come along too.

………………..

He mentally smiled to himself as they walked down the downtown sidewalk, Usagi clinging happily to his arm, chattering away about her family. The sky was cerulean blue, indescribable when illuminated by a pale golden sun. He swore to himself that he would get used to this world and live here forever.

"And Minako! You _have_ to meet Minako! She is the _coolest_! She's gorgeous – with blonde hair and these amazing blue eyes that are just the right shade of blue. _Plus_ she's famous! And an actress! Kind of like an manga character except real." 

He nodded distractedly when she paused and waited expectantly. Seeing his indication of agreement, she continued cheerily.

"And I _know_ you'll get along with Ami just perfectly! You two can probably discuss Plato's _Republic_ together or something … nobody else in the family can hold a decent conversation with her so I'm sure she'll be delighted to have you here! Oh! And Hotaru is the darlingest girl! She's only about four years younger than the rest of us and instead of inheriting the traditional blonde hair of our family, she got the recessive dark, dark hair that glows purple! And…"

He tuned her out to admire and study the passerby around them, for once at peace with the world.

…………………

"Oh, Usagi! Who is _this_?" Ikuko greeted, wide-eyed as a smile slowly stretched over her face. 

"Mom, meet Hiiro Yui … he's a guy that I've met."

"And how long has this been going on?"

Usagi blushed. "Quite a while actually…" She smiled to herself as Hiiro didn't object and Ikuko ushered them in hurriedly. 

"Well, honey, we're glad that you're both here. I do believe everybody else is here already and the dinner can begin now."

"Usagi! What is this? Late again? Always the last one to get here!" Minako grinned as she stepped into the entrance hall. Before catching an answer from the returning Tsukino cousin, she called over her shoulder, "Everybody! Usagi's back! And she got somebody with her!" Her tone was so suggestive that Usagi had the urge to take back all the nice things she had said about her and stomp up to her to wring her neck. But before she could make another move, a tidal wave of cousins rushed onto her, flocking around her and exclaiming compliments. Only one person failed to join the fray and as Usagi glanced up, she locked eyes with Lita. 

Lita's wide green eyes glanced away from Usagi and settled on the person by her side. Only one word touched her lips but that one word made Usagi's blood run cold. "Hiiro…"

…………………

"Duo, you go in first," Trowa ordered.

"What?! Why me?" the braided pilot protested valiantly.

Wufei snorted. "Because if Yui blows off your head, it wouldn't be much of a loss to you, considering you never use it anyway."

"Okay, okay! Stop arguing. I'll go in first," Quatre groaned exasperatedly and turned the doorknob. The other four fell into a semi-orderly line behind him with Relena bringing up the rear as the door swung open.

"He's…"

"Gone." The five glanced around puzzledly.

"Hey! What's that?" Duo cried curiously as all five headed towards the bright, silvery object. They crouched over it, shoulders touching.

"Gundanium…" Wufei stated decisively.

Duo's hand reached out to pick it up.

"Duo! Don't t-"

A bright light surrounded all five.

…………………

"Hiiro … Hiiro Yui?" Lita shakily took a step closer. "This … can't be real!" The entrance hall had settled down and became deathly quiet as Lita advanced and Usagi cringed back. 

"Lita! It's not what you think!"

"Not what I think? How can anybody deny that Hiiro Yui, a fictional character in your manga is here, right beside you?"

"I-"

A flash of light blinded all thirty-some people in the vast hallway as another five joined the group, standing up from a crouching position and blinking around perplexedly. 

"Duo! Wufei! Trowa! Quatre! Relena!" Usagi cried, eyes wide and jaw lax as Lita's dazed eyes flew to them as well. 

"W-what is this?" Relena was the first one to recover and glance around, bewildered. "Where are we?"

"Wow! So this is the real world!"

"The … real world?" Ikuko muttered quizzically. "Usagi … who are these people and how did they just plop into my reception hall?"

"I…"

"These people came from the manga _Gundam Wing_," Lita finished definitively. 

Everybody in the hallway started, some from confused surprise and others from the shock of hearing the truth finally being voiced. Silence gathered over the crowd like gray storm clouds.

Relena was the first to break it. "Hiiro … come back. This world isn't right for you! You're not _real_!"

Hiiro stared at her and then looked back at Usagi. Turning to her, he laid his hands upon her shoulders and glanced at Relena. "How can you say that when she's right by me and tangible? I am real if I want to be."

"Hiiro…" Quatre uttered softly before backing down at the sight of Hiiro's challenging stare. 

"Usagi." Everybody jumped at the sound of another voice breaking the silence. Luna walked towards her charge. "Have you noticed? Do you conceal yourself from the truth? Look closely at him, Usagi. Look closely at all of them. They have no shadows." 

Everybody seemed to tense as they sought for the proof of solidity and found none. Usagi felt her eyes water. "You're not real … after all this … you're not real." She chanced a quick glance around her and caught sight of Mamoru standing protectively at her other side. Usagi was quickly brought back to the matter at hand as Hiiro slowly let go of her and backed away to the crowd of pilots. She stepped towards them. 

"I suppose … you all have to go back?" 

Trowa nodded solemnly as Usagi looked away.

She slowly walked up to Wufei first. "Goodbye, Wufei. Keep the justice in your heart and never give it up." Hugging him, she moved on. "Trowa … I finally understand you and I promise I'll try harder to portray you as the character that you are … so that you might become real for the readers." She repeated the action and traveled to the next person.

__

Duo, never give up your laughter and smiles. You'll need them in the future.

Quatre, don't ever go insane on everybody. You need to remain the wonderful, sweet self that you are.

Relena, keep that courage and desire for peace in your heart and one day it will come true. Work hard for it but never let go of your ideals.

Hiiro…

She stopped and caught herself before the tears escaped her eyes. "I'll always remember you and I-" She gasped as all five people started to fade. Before another word could be said, they were all gone, smiling hazily at her tearful eyes. 

"I love you," she finished quietly to herself. Everybody parted to allow her to slowly climb up the stairs and enter her room.

…………………

A soft knock interrupted the thoughts of Usagi as she looked up and Ikuko walked through the door, carrying a tray of food. "I thought you might be hungry."

She smiled. "Thanks, Mom." 

"Ah, I see. Just like you were when you were little. Always resorting to drawing when you're in a bad mood … I see you're finally continuing that manga of yours."

Usagi nodded and smiled half-heartedly. "It's a very important scene I've never been able to bring myself to draw."

"Well, honey. I'll leave you to your work. If you want to talk, I'm always willing to lend an ear." 

The blonde smiled gratefully and whispered, "Good night."

She turned back to the drawing at hand and stared at the wrinkled dots where tears had landed, brushing them away. Gripping her pencil decisively, she completed the drawing in graceful, easy strokes and smiled down at Hiiro stealing a kiss from a shocked Relena.

…………………

A brief note on the compliments Usagi threw at Minako: I truly don't understand why so many Minako fans insist on hating Usagi. In fact, Usagi is probably most familiar with Minako and admires her quite a bit … especially since she thought _Mina_ was the moon princess before the truth was revealed and honestly … the two act so much alike and look so much alike … what's the difference? Sorry. Just had to get it out of my system. I have nothing against a Minako/Hiiro pairing … in fact … I've supported it before and I'm writing a fic regarding them but … it just irks (heh heh … irk…) me when I read profanity aimed at Usagi. Again, sorry for venting. ^^;;;

Weeeelllll…how was _that_ for some drama, ne? ^^;;; Does this sound familiar to you? I hope it does … and you'll see why … next chapter! Heh heh … actually the next chapter is the epilogue but … well … you'll see. It ends happily! I SWEAR! Well … in my world it ends happily…hmmmm. :D Thanks for reading. Yours, Angel.

Asia-chan: It doesn't seem like me? ~blinks~ Wow … I'd take that as a compliment but … ^^;;;

Shadow Wolf: I led you on? Hmm … oh! You mean with Usa returning and everything? Heh heh heh … or with Hiiro "dying"? Lol. I've led you on too many times already to tell which one. Yeah, I've seen Kurama in demon form and … it makes me wonder if either the makers of Inuyasha were plagiarists or if the makers of YYH were. And I know IY isn't done yet … but it should go to episode 106, right? Plus movie? Lol … I don't believe Cartoon Network is showing all of that…And I agree with you about Kenshin … I was so excited when they finally introduced Saitoh and and and … ~sigh~ The next day I had to "meet the Battousai" again. Epilogue's coming next and I'm very, very flattered! :D

Heart Soul: WOW! Thank you for taking all that time to tell me all about it. :D It really helped … honest! ^^ Well .. about the epilogue … heh heh. It's the next chapter. ^^ As you have probably deduced by now. Kurama … heh heh heh … tsk. What do people see in Hiei? ^^;;; Just kidding. Have you been watching it lately? Yukina and Kuwabara … those two. And actually … I found out who the masked fighter was one week before they actually showed it (on Thursday). Can't wait for the episode tomorrow! :D

Sunshine Fia: Mean? Well … isn't "mean" a bit strong of a word? How 'bout … hmm … sly? ^^;;; Ahh … well. I'm glad you're happy with the ending (it was happy! O___O I still can't believe it…) but … heh heh. I'm evil. Okay. I'll admit that. Unfortunately, the "real world" isn't quite right for Hiiro Yui…~sigh~ But there is a … fairly happy ending at the end of the epilogue. If you think this chapter sounds familiar … you're probably on the right track. ^^

Callisto: You hit the problem right on! Hiiro's problems … heh heh. Will he help draw his friends? That'd be scary … imagine what he'd do to them! O____O ~whispers~ Can you see it?

Naïve Dreamer: Lol. Thank you so much for taking the time to fuel my obsession! :D I know what you mean by the STAR testing and everything … except … we have TAKS testing and … I _hope_ we're talking about the same thing … the state tests, right? That they give you 3 and ½ hours for when you only need 45 minutes? Lol. 

SakuraMona: Thanks for telling me about it! Hmm … I'm not surprised that Yusuke beat Jin but … ~sigh~ I actually liked Jin. Lol. Not as much as Kurama but … well .. nobody really competes with Kurama … (except maybe Yuki but that's an entirely different series…) Goldfish? Where? Where? Sakura: ~stares at Mona and Angel~ Ahhh … are you two related?

Cheska: ROFL. So … you try to jump into the computer, ne? Heh … ~mental picture~. Hmm … I actually wish I had a brother … but I suppose older is better. Instead I'm stuck with … ~looks down at cat~ … well … with… 

The Desert Fox: I was a bit confused while reading your review but maybe it was just me … for about … two minutes I thought you were referring to Usagi … heh. Artemis and Luna? Aww … then I have to redeem them … but sadly ~shrugs~ no more room. -____-;;;

Lady-Tomoyo: I wish all my readers were like you! Listen to happy songs when the chapter is happy and listen to sad songs when the chapter is sad … heh heh … the perfect world. :D So much more impact, ne? ^^

Firefly Princess: Even though you didn't review for this chapter (which I don't mind at all!) I'm eternally grateful to you! Lol. Thank you so so so much for taking so much time out of your personal life to review for … ~glances at fics and tries to burn computer~ well … _those_. Lol. You're really too sweet and I promise I'll pay you back! ^^ For the self-esteem boost _and_ the amazing effort. ^^;;;

Thanks everybody for the reviews and in particular those who took the time and effort to actually respond to my request/plea. Lol. You're all too sweet and I'll go through another bout of depression when I'm done with this fic … lol. ^^ 

Kurama … heh heh heh … ~runs after him~ 

(Anybody also obsessed with Fruits Basket? I'd have to say it is the "kawaii-est" anime I've ever watched … even if a few parts scared me. )


	22. Epilogue: The World Notified

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon but … right now I don't really care. However, I ask, no, pray, no, **BEG** God every night to own Fruits Basket. (idea taken from Silvertail Syndrome Symptoms) Or … better yet. Be like Usagi and actually get _in_to the manga/anime. How cool would that be…? ^^

The ending = the beginning … get it? The same titles? Hahaha … okay. Stop thinking I'm lame. ^^ I think it's happy! Okay … I also think it's rushed but … I think it's happy! (the original synopsis for Picture This _did_ end at the point where Usagi draws the kiss of Relena and Hiiro but … ^^;;;)

****

Epilogue: The World Notified

She gathered the stuff around her – a bottle of mineral water and a dazzling scrap of silver metal that transcended all other precious metals at that time. The family had been offered large amounts in exchange for it – gundanium, it was called – but Usagi had turned down every offer, insisting on keeping it.

"Are you sure about this? You're only going to get hurt more, Usagi," Hotaru questioned softly. 

"Don't worry, Hota. I've gotten over it. I just need to make sure … that he's still all right."

Hotaru blinked, confused. "But don't you write everything that happens in his life? Don't you know how he's doing?"

Usagi smiled and shook her head. "I don't control them, y'know. They are their own people."

"Well … hurry back."

The blonde nodded and gently poured the clear water onto bright metal.

…………………

The grass felt cool and pleasant under her before she quickly stood up and wondered where she was. In the distance, she saw Quatre's mansion and grinned, running towards it like a love-struck schoolgirl. She paused at the greenhouse and glanced in, almost laughing at the sight of perfect rose bushes planted around a few that were still half-torn and a sign that read in bold letters: _Wufeis and Trowas will be shot if seen in this area at any time of day and in all seasons. _

Usagi hurried towards the front door and, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, rang the doorbell. 

"Miss Usagi!" Rashid greeted her cheerfully, enveloping her in a fierce hug before leading her in and ringing for the "little master of the house and his friends". 

"What is it, Ra-Usagi!" Quatre's face broke into a smile as he ran to her and hugged her. Trowa, Duo, Wufei, and even Relena followed in suit. She laughed and joked with each of them before finally turning to the last person to descend the stairs.

"How're you doing, Hiiro?" Everybody was silent as they watched the exchange of greetings.

"Usagi … what are you doing here?"

"Just paying you all a visit." She grinned brightly but knew he was disappointed – he had believed that she was here for good. "I've already finished planning the ending of _Gundam Wing_ and I can promise all of you that it ends happily."

"What's your definition of 'happily'?" Duo questioned warily. Usagi laughed. 

"Usagi … stay." The relaxed atmosphere was quickly broken by Hiiro's soft plea. He reached out for her but she quickly backed away. 

"I can't, Hiiro. I don't belong here, just like you don't belong in my world." Silence ensued before she smiled. "I should probably go now. Goodbye all of you. Your lives will all be great."

She walked away and disappeared in a flash of light. Every eye turned to Hiiro to gauge his reaction. Oddly enough, he smiled.

…………………

"Sheesh, Usagi! I still can't believe your stay in _Gundam Wing_ took almost two years off of your life! I'm almost as old as you!"

"What, Shingo? Don't want to be an old geezer like me?" she joked back. 

"Of course not!" The three, Minako, Usagi, and Shingo, walked together compatibly along the campus sidewalk. There were rows and rows of cherry blossom trees all the way to the college as other students surrounded them, some studying and some talking. 

"So this is what college is like, huh? What a rush!" Usagi laughed and skipped ahead before turning back and grinning.

"Usagi! People are starting to _stare_!" Minako teased. 

"Oh, Usa! I just met a guy yesterday. He wanted to meet you. Said something about searching for you all of his life…" Shingo pondered it. "I wrote if off as romantic crap. But hey! Here he comes right now!" 

Wide, curious blue eyes turned around and widened even more as the man halted three feet in front of her and smiled. 

Dark brown strands swept and played in front of wondrous blue in the breeze as a shower of pink petals waltzed around them. 

Usagi's hands reached up to cover her mouth as her eyes flooded with tears. 

The smile on his face became tender as two words escaped in the distance between them: "Finally … finally…"

…………………

****

The Tokyo Informer _Page A2, top, right-hand corner_

TOKYO, JAPAN. _Today, manga artist Tsukino Usagi and publisher Luna Tsuki announced the conclusion of another brilliant manga. One might recall back to **Gundam Wing**, which was finished only a year prior to this. When asked how she could finish an entire series so quickly, Miss Tsukino smiled and replied, "It helps to have inspiration."_

On May 17, 2012, Tsukino's much-celebrated manga, **Fushigi Yugi, **was completed. The artist is in the middle of creating an anime for this spectacular piece of art as fans wait impatiently for its release date – May 30. 

****

Fushigi Yugi tells the story of junior high schoolgirls Miaka Yuuki and Yui Hongo as they are sucked into the ancient text: Shi Jen Ten Shou and find adventure, betrayal, and love among its characters. As Miaka and Yui race each other to gather their respective items to call upon the gods, love flowers between Tamahome and Miaka. However, we soon learn that Tamahome has no chance of surviving in the real world. The manga ends happily despite the heartbreak the reader suffers several times through the book as Tsukino displays yet again her knack for sentimental and powerful scenes. Needless to say, Tamahome and Miaka end up together, happily ever after.

"It correlates with something I've personally experienced in my life," Miss Tsukino explained when asked where the idea for **Fushigi Yugi** had come from. Fans have speculated that Miss Tsukino's "Tamahome" is indeed Mr. Heero Yuy. Just this past spring, Mr. Yuy and Miss Tsukino were officially engaged. The wedding is set in late August and promises to be spectacular as all renowned designers and planners were hired by the illustrious Tsukino family. 

While the making of an animated **Fushigi Yugi** is still going on, Miss Tsukino has enlisted the help of her fiancé in a new work that she calls **Ayashi no Ceres **as well as the continuation of **Fushigi Yuugi **(OVAs). Check it out, fans – it promises to be another show of fireworks.

Rei Hino

………………… 

Thanks for sticking with me throughout this entire fic, everybody! (Hope the link between FY and Usagi's life was obvious) I'm glad that this is finally finished – it's the oldest one that I've decided to continue. However, by no means does being glad mean that I won't miss all of your wonderful comments! ^^;;; As always, thanks for your time and consideration and I will definitely miss hearing from all of you! (can't say the same about writing this but… ^^;;;) Yours, Angel.

Cheska: Eh heh heh … I'm surprised you're not mad at me like almost everybody else … lol. Glad that it touched you … to put it in a nice way. ^^ But this is the final ending … and I don't think it's too sad … but tell me if it is so can adjust my definition of sadness. Lol. ^^;;;

Darkwolf: Thank you! Lol … I've been trying to change people's minds about Relena before and it's pretty much an uphill climb. ^^;;; I'm happy it gave you chills! I can't even believe it could affect people like that … lol. And if you're a dork for it giving you chills than I wish everybody who read it was a dork. ^^;;; Wai! You even like my humor? Lol … How perfect. ^^;;;

Serena Yuy: A fairytale ending? Hmm … _glances up_ _and blinks_. Ehhh …_ I_ think it's a fairytale ending! :D (my useless attempt to make you feel better…-___-;;;) Lol … the real Hiiro, ne? Well … I never did explain how the whole epilogue came to be (about how the "real" Hiiro came to be) but … I dunno. Neither did Watase Yuu so … I leave it at that. ^^;;; 

Obsessed: It's odd. I'm probably going to be hated for saying this but … when I decide to reminisce and watch Sailor Moon again, somehow Usagi doesn't completely appeal to me. It's not that I hate her … it's just … I never _truly_ liked her the way Naoko created her to be. But I suppose after reading fanfiction for so long … the more "mature" and "adult" Usagi has kind of … taken the place of the original Usagi. It's a real problem for me and gets in the way of keeping her in character. _Sigh. _Still, out of all the characters (female) I have seen, she's the only one I like and can tear away from the original guy – Darien/Mamoru. Somehow, I just can't bear splitting up Kenshin/Kaoru or Syaoran/Sakura. Call me weird but…Anyhow. Sorry for being so long-winded and kind of … lecturing. Just ignore it, please. ^^

SakuraMona: Mona: "What is _that_ supposed to me, Sakura?" Sakura: "Ahhh … oh look! Kurama!" Mona: "Nope, sorry. That only works on _you_." Sakura: "No! I'm serious! Kurama!" Mona: "Wha?" Sakura: "Heh heh heh …" _runs away_. I'm sorry … I'm probably boring you. ^^;;;

Key: Wow! Another resident of Texas … ^^

Lady-Tomoyo: Lol. Sorry about that… ^^;;;

The Desert Fox: It's not that I'd rather have Hiiro and Relena together than Hiiro and Usagi … Just … I think it'd have been a bit stretched if I allowed Hiiro to stay in the real world or vice versa. Plus, her drawing his kissing Relena shows the depth of love she has for him – she wishes him to be happy even if she's not there with him. However, I'm really sorry that I disappointed you. ^^;;;

Firefly Princess: You didn't have to go back to chapter twenty and review! Ahh … I hope I didn't sound like I was demanding/complaining when I mentioned it … Don't be sorry! I am very, _very_ thrilled that you actually liked the ending despite the fact that it's sad. Though … I'm not positive that it shows how talented I am … it might just show how open-minded you are. ^^;;; You know, you've been the most accurate "guesser" at what will happen next … lol. And Fruits Basket … heh. I'm flattered that you actually reviewed a second time just to respond to it. ^^;;; First I died laughing and then I died crying and now I want to rewatch it. Lol. Wish that they'd animate the entire series but … sadly … -___-;;; But if Hana Kimi is your favorite (and therefore better than Furuba) … wow … I can't even imagine how good it'll be. ^^;;; But anyhow … thanks for all your time and support! And as Tohru says to Kisa … daisuki desu! ^^;;;

Gray Matter will be finished next and hopefully someday Callie and I will get to uploading Even if You Smile/Scandalous. Just an update! ^^


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